5 reasons why Jim Harbaugh could resurface in the SEC

Jim Harbaugh has been all the buzz in the news lately. The topic of conversation right now across the country in college football right now is the spying allegations against the Michigan Wolverines during Harbaughs time there as head coach.

Although he departed Ann Arbor this past offseason for the head coaching position of the San Diego Chargers in the NFL, Harbaugh, former assistant Conor Stalions and current Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore have all been making headlines surrounding the allegations.

Although the NCAA has not concluded its investigation and leveraged any penalties against the Wolverines in regards to this matter, they did just lay the hammer down against Harbaugh with a four-year, show cause order for impermissible contact with recruits and players during the covid-19 pandemic.

With Harbaugh burning a bridge with his alma mater and him recently arriving in San Diego, show-cause aside I would not expect him to return to the college game soon anyways. With that being said, I would not be surprised if he does return at some point.

Why would Jim Harbaugh coach again in college?

1. Harbaugh has had Success in college

At the college level, Harbaugh has resurrected two programs; the Stanford Cardinal and Michigan Wolverines. The year before his arrival at Stanford, the Cardinal were coming off of a 1-11 season under fired head coach Walt Harris and had only seen four winning seasons dating back to 1992. Harbaugh quickly turned the program around and went 12-1 in his final season at the school.

Although things were not as bad off in Ann Arbor as they were Stanford, Harbaugh still did the work he had to do and turned the Wolverines into a national champion in 2023 defeating Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide who had been on top of the college football world for the last few decades.

Harbaugh returned the Wolverines to national prominence during his nine year run six seasons of 10 wins or more. In the previous 11 seasons prior to Harbaugh’s arrival, the Wolverines only had two seasons of 10 wins or more.

2. Michigan would not take Harbaugh back

Even after the show-cause is expired, odds are the Wolverines would not take Harbaugh back despite him leading them to a national championship. The tension seemed to be stirring a few years prior to Harbaugh’s exit with his lack of success against the Ohio State Buckeyes for one, and his slight regression of the program going 11-8 in 2019 and 2020 combined.

Folks do forget since Harbaugh won his last three against the Buckeyes, but do not remember his struggles in the rivalry early on against Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes. His overall record against them is 3-5 with Harbaugh losing his first five contests to the rival. I highly doubt the Wolverines want to go through that again.

Things would go as far as Harbaugh needing to restructure his staff and taking a pay cut to stay on board. And that is as close to being fired as one can get.

3. Harbaugh upsets another team in the NFL

Not unlike college with the Wolverines, Harbaugh seemed to ruffle feathers with the San Francisco 49ers during his time as head coach as well. Organizational hierarchy and turmoil are largely known reasons why things did not work out for Harbaugh and the 49ers in the end.

So as far as relationships go, he has fractured one in the NFL so far, so who is to say that despite more organizational control with the Chargers it will not happen again at some point?

4. Harbaugh wants to challenge self in the SEC

What better way to re-enter the college game than for the best conference in college football. The SEC has won 14 of the last 18 national championships dating back to 2006.

With Harbaugh already reaching the pinnacle at a Big 10 school that is one of the most elite in the conference, do not be surprised if he returns to college giving himself even more of a challenge in the SEC.

You may be thinking that at this point, Harbaugh would come with a lot of risk and baggage. And you would be right. However, winning in the SEC when it comes to football is a high pressure situation that athletic directors jobs often hinge upon. And if there was ever a school or athletic director looking to maintain or return to national prominence, do not be surprised if they would feel it is worth the risk to take a chance on Harbaugh in doing so.

5. Harbaugh is a job hopper

One of the main reasons Harbaugh left for the job with the San Diego Chargers is supposedly more control when it comes to personnel decision, which includes draft picks, free agency signings and beyond. This is something he did not have in San Francisco when he was the head coach of the 49ers.

One would think that since he has made the leap, he would not leap back into college. Do not be so sure however as Harbaugh has done this once before after leaving the 49ers for the job with the Wolverines.