Michigan Football News: Jim Harbaugh Weighs Record-Breaking Contract

It would be a record commitment for college football, but the hot Michigan football rumors has head coach Jim Harbaugh sitting on a contract worth 10 years and $125 million to remain with the top-ranked Wolverines. That’s a $12.5 million-per-year payday that would make him the highest-paid coach in collegiate history.

The current record holder for richest contract on a per-year basis is Nick Saban of Alabama, who makes $11.4 million.

The Harbaugh contract, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, has a contingency in it that is currently holding up the process. Harbaugh would be forbidden, at least in 2024, from pursuing an NFL coaching job in the terms of his current offer.

“There is a caveat, and it’s NFL-related,” Rapoport wrote on Sunday. “If he signed the deal — which he has not yet done – Jim Harbaugh would agree not to entertain or accept an NFL job for the 2024 season. The NFL clause would be one season only, but that’s apparently been enough to drag out the process.”

Michigan Football Rumors: Jim Harbaugh Eyeing NFL

That would be difficult for Harbaugh to accept given that he has long sought to validate his career by returning to the NFL after he had a successful run with the 49ers from 2011-15. The 49ers went to a Super Bowl and an NFC championship game in Harbaugh’s short tenure, which ended with a bizarre mutual parting of ways that Harbaugh later claimed was not really mutual.

Harbaugh Took Over Michigan Shortly Thereafter

Harbaugh has actively pursued NFL jobs in each of the past two seasons. He was interviewed by the Vikings in 2022 and, this year, he interviewed with the Broncos before they hired Sean Payton. If he wanted a job in the NFL, he would be a candidate in a number of places, most notably the Los Angeles Chargers, who would give him the opportunity to coach star quarterback Justin Herbert.

Would Harbaugh leave Michigan football while he’s sitting on the No. 1 team in the game? Ten days ago, Jason LaCanfora of the Washington Post reported that the NFL remains an obstacle for a long-term Harbaugh commitment to UM.