College Football

Jim Harbaugh has given Michigan a shot at a title and new life to his career

Published Dec. 30, 2021 5:02 p.m. ET

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

"Captain Comeback" has lived up to his nickname this year. After beginning 2021 on the thinnest of melting ice, Jim Harbaugh will enter the final day of the year in a buoyant mood — and with a shot at glory about to land in his lap.

Harbaugh, recently named the best coach in college football, will guide his No. 2 Michigan Wolverines against No. 3 Georgia on Friday for a spot in the national championship game. Both of those things seemed drastically unlikely when the 2020 season came to a close.

Following a dismal, COVID-disrupted, 2-4 campaign in Ann Arbor last season, Harbaugh had his contract adjusted to an incentive-laden deal that was dripping with skepticism after several mixed seasons and an ongoing failure to beat Ohio State.

Many thought he’d be gone by now, and if things hadn’t turned around so spectacularly, he probably would be.

Instead, Harbaugh has once more proven to be "Captain Comeback," the moniker bestowed upon him after a series of stunning revivals while he was quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts in the mid-1990s.

Quarterback Jim Harbaugh of the Indianapolis Colts scrambles as he looks to pass against the San Francisco 49ers during a game at the RCA Dome on October 15, 1995 in Indianapolis.

And as a result of his once again becoming the flavor of the month, there has been plentiful discussion about whether a different kind of comeback might be next. A comeback … to the National Football League.

With the NFL conveyor belt expected to spin off a large handful of coaches once the current season is done, Harbaugh will be one of the highest-profile names on the list of possible replacements. If he gets another win over Georgia and maybe one more to clinch a national title, his stock will rise higher than ever.

There is no shortage of teams that would want him and fan bases that would welcome him. Case in point, Chicago, where Bears coach Matt Nagy appears to be in the final throes of a disappointing four-year spell that has gotten progressively worse.

"Is [Harbaugh] … due for another big move along his sentimental coaching journey?" Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote. "Might he be interested in the Bears, with whom he played the first half of his 14-year NFL career? Might they be interested in him, especially if he caps the season … with [a championship]?"

The most persistent rumors have linked the 58-year-old with the Las Vegas Raiders job, which became vacant when Jon Gruden stepped down midseason after reports of his use of discriminatory language. The job has since been held by Rich Bisaccia on an interim basis.

It was seven years ago that Harbaugh returned to his alma mater, having left San Francisco after leading the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII, but he subsequently fell out with the front office.

He has a history of nostalgic moves: to Stanford, where his father, Jack, was the defensive coordinator during Jim’s childhood, and to Michigan, where he once made a famous guarantee.

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Harbaugh is a divisive figure. His style antagonizes by design, and he makes no apology for it. At the start of this season, he promised to break Michigan’s drought against the Buckeyes or "die trying." He doesn’t mind throwing shade at rival teams and coaches or talking up his own squad. Against Georgia, despite Michigan’s No. 2 seeding, the Bulldogs will be seven-point favorites, per FOX Bet.

There are still some who will say that Harbaugh should have produced a greater return in his time at Michigan, where his former deal was worth $9 million per year. FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt disputes that notion.

"It is laughable to make the argument that Jim Harbaugh is underperforming," Klatt told Colin Cowherd’s "The Herd" on FS1. "In the four years before he went there, they were 31-20. They are tangibly better.

"This notion out there that Harbaugh is overrated is not only false, but it's petty, and it’s borne out of jealousy and envy. You don’t like the guy, so you want to harp on him. The guy is a phenomenal football coach."

Things got shaky for Michigan two months ago, when a loss to Michigan State provided the first — and, to date, only — setback of the season. Since then, the team has responded with style, trouncing Maryland, generating the biggest morale-booster possible by dominating Ohio State and crushing Iowa to clinch the Big Ten crown.

Harbaugh said Thursday that he loves the job so much that he would "do it for free," and he said he was unbothered by the reworked contract that cut his base salary to $4 million.

"No big deal," he said. "Attacking each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, as always. It didn’t really mean anything to me. It’s just money."

If Michigan wins the College Football Playoff, though, there will be more money: another $1 million in bonuses, on top of the $2 million he already received for winning the Big Ten East, winning the Big Ten title and landing in the CFP.

Whatever happens next, rest assured that certain quarters of the NFL will be watching. Harbaugh might decide his current gig is too good to pass up, or maybe the temptation to make another mark in the pros will be too great.

"Captain Comeback" is on the comeback trail, and there are numerous paths he could follow.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.