What the hell is going on with my Wolverines?
The world of college football was thrown into an uproar on Jan. 12 after a very odd social media exchange between the University of Michigan and head coach Jim Harbaugh, with speculation about his future now hitting a boiling point.
The last week has been chaotic for Michigan, with the football program undergoing an NCAA investigation and rumors flying about Harbaugh’s potential to the NFL. Harbaugh, who coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, tried to silence the gossip on Jan. 5 when he said he expects to be “enthusiastically coaching Michigan in 2023.” That attempt that failed miserably and quickly.
Since that time, there has been zero confirmation from either Harbaugh or Michigan as to whether he will actually stay in Ann Arbor. Michigan president Santa Ono stated on Jan. 12 that he and athletic director Warde Manuel have been having discussions with Harbaugh, but didn’t give an update on where things stand.
“I’m pleased to share that I have been having very positive and constructive conversations with our Athletic Director and Football Coach,” wrote Ono. “Warde Manuel and I both want to see Jim Harbaugh stay as the head football coach of the University of Michigan Wolverines. #GoBlue”
Here’s where things get even weirder: at literally the exact same time that Ono released his statement, Michigan football’s official Twitter account then posted a statement from Harbaugh saying that he is in “full support” of the Ono tweet to Michigan’s base — just strange.
“l am in full support of President Ono’s message to our fans and appreciate his support of me and the team,” said Harbaugh.
#GoBlue https://t.co/hBHOyqotDx pic.twitter.com/Fce3ddopKx
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 12, 2023
This is Pete Carroll all over again. Remember last week when I said that somebody with an agenda is trying to get Jim Harbaugh back to the NFL, just like what happened to Pete Carroll in 2010?
Now, I obviously don’t have any evidence of this, but I guarantee that somebody leaked out the details of that NCAA investigation in an attempt to get Harbaugh back to the league, and luckily for whoever it was and unfortunately for the Wolverines base (like myself), it seems to be working.
First off, you had all of these reports about him possibly going back to the NFL drawing interest from both the Carolina Panthers (who are apparently the favorite) and Denver Broncos. Then, literally the same week of these reports, details from the investigation were leaked out before they even got to the University of Michigan. All of the timing is just weird as hell — and then you also have the fact that Harbaugh was all-in with Michigan just last week, and now, he can’t give any clarification on his situation (and neither can the school). And then all of that was followed up with those weird ass tweets. (RELATED: One Of Greatest Weekends Of Football Has Arrived. Here’s Everything You Need To Know)
This whole situation is just weird, dude.
Judging by everything, Harbaugh is probably headed back to the NFL to escape a Michigan program that might end up getting hammered with NCAA sanctions, but as I see it, there’s so much shady shit around this entire thing that I can’t help but feel that our head coach got Pete Carroll’d.
I’m not going to blame Harbaugh for running away, but still, it shows how cutthroat the business of football really is.