After Michigan won the national championship, there have been talks about whether they will be able to extend head coach Jim Harbaugh or if he will take a job in the NFL.
He has already been interviewed by the Los Angeles Chargers and there is mutual interest, but the president of Michigan, Santa Ono, said that he is trying to do everything he can to keep Harbaugh in Ann Arbor.
One thing Harbaugh reportedly wants if he were to agree to an extension with the Wolverines is immunity from being fired for the results of any ongoing NCAA investigations into the Michigan football program according to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports.
He has requested that part of his deal be that Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel would not be able to fire him “for cause” due to any future NCAA violations, and instead have the decision go toa three-member arbitration panel.
The NCAA recently sent a notice of allegations to Michigan regarding the investigation regarding recruiting violations, for which Harbaugh served a self-imposed three-game suspension at the beginning of the 2023 season, though anything related to that investigation is unlikely to be what would get him fired.
The sign-stealing investigation is still going on, but the NCAA still hasn’t sent a notice of allegations for that. Connor Stalions, who was at the center of the scandal, resigned from his position and the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy.
If Harbaugh does move on to an NFL team, he is seeking a delay in the start date of his new contract so that the buyout the team would have to pay Michigan is lower. His buyout is currently at $1.5 million after it went down from $2.25 million on Jan. 11. In a new deal, Michigan would be looking to raise that number to $4 million.
Wetzel reported that the financial terms of a possible contract between Harbaugh and Michigan are mostly settled, the language regarding his firing due to rules violations are what is holding the process up.
