Michigan Tuesday: Jimmy Has Some Decisions to Make

So Monday night Stanford won a BCS Bowl Game by playing good defense and beating Virgina Tech in the second half with a balanced offense.  Congratulations to Jim Harbaugh and Stanford on winning the Orange Bowl. 

Now what?  The best analogy I saw on Twitter yesterday was that maybe Jim would hold a press conference and have a 49ers, Broncos, Carolina, Stanford and Michigan hats all on a table.  He would then pick one and say he is committing to that organization.  

Reports are all over the board from, "if Michigan offered he would take it" to "Michigan is off the table and he wants to stay at Stanford or go the NFL".

Here is my take on his decision process:

49ers:  Pro's:  Close to home and comes with the largest paycheck.  Con's: In the NFL coaches are hired to be fired.  Could be there just for a few years. 

Stanford: Pro's: Build a very nice top 10 program there.  Con's: Will he ever make the money he wants at a private University?

Broncos: Pro's and Con's = John Elway.  A Hall of Famer who has never been an NFL executive.   Could be a good or bad thing, jury is still out.

Carolina: Pro's: Could draft his QB Andrew Luck.  Con's:  How far is that franchise away from being relevant again in the NFL?

Michigan:  Pro's: He is an Alum and former QB, his coaching mentor is Bo Schembechler and Michigan has been rumored to be his dream job.  Could be his 1 and only job for the next 10-20 years if he is successful.  Con's:  Did you watch the Gator Bowl?

I think all this insider stuff is BS.   We will know things when they happen officially.  I wouldn't expect Michigan to let RR go if they didn't already have at least a hand shake agreement with a new head coach.   Brady Hoke would take this job in a New York minute, I don't think Les Miles is a candidate.   Wild card could be someone like Pat Fitzgerald for example. 

My gut is telling me that its Harbaugh or Michigan keeps Rodriguez with a new defensive staff.   We should know something soon.  We need to because Michigan's 2011 recruiting class is hanging in the wind with official visits set up for this weekend and 2 big all star games coming up.

Is a Michigan Man Going to Coach the Raiders?

Many Michigan fans will debate you on whether Jim Harbaugh is a true Michigan man after "throwing the program under the bus" a couple of years ago. He stated "the [Michigan] athletic department has ways to get borderline guys in and, when they’re in, they steer them to courses in sports communications. They’re adulated when they’re playing, but when they get out, the people who adulated them won’t hire them". Harbaugh stated that he had wanted to major in history at Michigan, but was told early in his freshman year that he shouldn't major in history because it was too demanding academically. Those comments alone kept the former Michigan QB from being considered for the Michigan opening last winter.

Now the current Cardinal coach is reportedly being considerd as the next Oakland Raiders Head coach. Harbaugh is currently in his second year of a 5 year contract at Stanford and Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby isn't wasting anytime by trying to lock Jim up to a long term contract.

Jim and I have talked, and I have visited with his agent," Bowlsby wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. "We will be happy to extend Jim as long as he would like to be extended. No details have been determined, but we would like to keep Jim at Stanford as long as possible."

When asked Tuesday about the Raiders job, Harbaugh, a former assistant in Oakland, said: "I have given no thought to any other job than the one I have. I haven't talked to anybody or anything like that. I hope this doesn't get to be like the quarterback question — like who's your starting quarterback. That would get real repetitive."


Harbaugh changed the subject when asked if he and Raiders owner Al Davis had spoken recently.