|
Report:
Michigan
offers
Jim
Harbaugh
$8
million
per year
By Eric
Branch-SF
GATE/Tell
Us SFO
SAN
FRANCISCO
(Tell Us
SFO) -
In early
January
2011,
Stanford
was
coming
off an
11-1
season
and
quarterback
Andrew
Luck had
just
announced
he would
return
to play
for a
third
season.
With a
potential
national
championship
in
Stanford’s
near
future,
Jim
Harbaugh
was
asked
the
obvious
question
at his
introductory
news
conference
as the
49ers’
head
coach:
Why
leave
the
Cardinal
for the
NFL?
“I view
it as a
perfect
opportunity,”
Harbaugh
said.
“The
perfect
competitive
platform
with
these
pros,
with the
level
playing
field,
the
chance
to be
part of
a team
that
goes
after
the
highest
award in
all of
sports.
And
that’s
the
Lombardi
Trophy.”
Nearly
four
years
later,
the
University
of
Michigan
is
willing
to open
its
vault to
see if
Harbaugh
will
reconsider
that
stance.
Michigan
has
offered
Harbaugh
a
six-year,
$48
million
contract
to
replace
recently
fired
Brady
Hoke as
its head
coach,
NFL
Network
reported
Wednesday.
The $8
million
annual
salary
would
make
Harbaugh
college
football’s
highest-paid
head
coach,
ahead of
Alabama’s
Nick
Saban
($7.16
million).
Harbaugh
was a
quarterback
at
Michigan
from
1983
through
’86, and
his dad,
Jack,
spent
seven
seasons
(1973-79)
as a
Wolverines
assistant
under
late
coach Bo
Schembechler,
whom
Harbaugh
counts
as one
of his
biggest
influences.
Michigan
pursued
Harbaugh
before
he was
hired by
the
49ers in
2011 and
he
reportedly
rebuffed
his alma
mater’s
latest
advances
last
week. In
response
to its
$48
million
offer,
however,
Harbaugh
has not
given
Michigan
a
“definitive
no,” NFL
Network
reported.
Last
week,
Harbaugh
was
asked
about
Michigan’s
interest.
“As a
principle,”
he said,
“I don’t
talk
about
any
other
job
other
than the
one that
I have.”
Harbaugh
isn’t
expected
to have
his
current
job long
after
the
regular
season
because
of
personality
conflicts
with the
49ers’
front
office.
The
Raiders
and Jets
reportedly
plan to
explore
trading
for
Harbaugh,
who has
one year
remaining
on his
five-year,
$25
million
contract.
Harbaugh
obviously
has ties
to
Michigan,
but he
hasn’t
left
California
in a
13-season
coaching
career
that
also has
included
stops
with the
Raiders,
as an
assistant,
and the
University
of San
Diego.
Could
Michigan’s
mammoth
offer
inspire
him to
leave
the
state —
and exit
the NFL
without
winning
a
Lombardi
Trophy?
In 2011,
he said
money
wasn’t
the
primary
factor
in his
decision
after he
turned
down a
more
lucrative
offer
from the
Dolphins
to join
the
49ers.
“I like
a buck
just
like the
next
guy,” he
said,
“but I
love
coaching,
and I
love
winning,
and I
love
football.”
Eric
Branch
is a San
Francisco
Chronicle
staff
writer.
E-mail:
ebranch@sfchronicle.com
Twitter:
@Eric_Branch |