What They're Saying: Jim Harbaugh Bets On Himself With Incentive-Laden Deal
On Friday, Michigan Wolverines head football coach Jim Harbaugh signed a four-year contract extension that is set to keep him in Ann Arbor through the end of the 2025 season. The deal is incentive-laden, starting with a $4M base salary in his first year, increasing incrementally each season. The kicker is the incentives, which could get Harbaugh back to approximately $7.5M yearly.
Here is a look around the internet at what they're saying about Harbaugh's new long-term commitment to the Wolverines.
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Chris Balas, The Wolverine: Warde Manuel: 'Jim Is The Right Man'
Michigan Wolverines head football coach Jim Harbaugh has signed a four-year contract extension through 2025 with revised financial terms effective Jan. 11, 2021.
Athletic Director Warde Manuel said Friday he believes Harbaugh will bounce back from the disappointment of a 2-4 season with vigor.
“I continue to believe that Jim is the right man to lead our program in pursuit of Big Ten and CFP championships,” Manuel said. "Our program didn’t achieve at a level that anyone expected this year, but I know those setbacks will drive the coaches, players and staff moving forward. Jim is a tireless worker and competitor. Following the completion of the season we talked for many hours on what it will take for Jim to lead and get us back on the right trajectory."
Harbaugh is expected to make several staff changes, starting at defensive coordinator. Don Brown was released and has accepted a job with former U-M assistant Jedd Fisch at Arizona, and Baltimore Ravens assistant Mike Macdonald is expected to join his staff in at least a co-DC role.
That and other additions will be announced at a later date, per a U-M release.
“Jim loves the University of Michigan and this football program,” Manuel continued. “He has been committed to this university, athletic department and football program since his days as a player and returning in 2015 as the head coach. He wants to do everything possible to build a championship football team while graduating our student-athletes.
"We all need to do our part to continue to help in that pursuit as it takes everyone pulling the same direction to have a championship level program.”
Harbaugh said he remained committed to getting U-M back on track after a disappointing season.
“My thanks to Athletic Director Warde Manuel for the trust that he has shown in allowing me to continue to coach the University of Michigan football team, and to President Mark Schlissel and the Board of Regents for their on-going support,” he said. "My additional thanks to Doug Gnodtke, our football staff and those departments on campus who continue to support our mission.
"Over the past few weeks, Warde and I had discussions that have been honest, open, insightful and constructive in moving our football program forward ... discussions that I look forward to continuing over the months and years ahead. We have a plan."
That includes more than just football, he added.
“There is work to be done and challenges to be addressed,” he said. “These challenges are being addressed as we continue to strive for excellence in the classroom and championships on the field, a message that I hope is noted in the language of our agreed-upon contract.
“Thanks to our University of Michigan players and their families who have placed their trust in our program and our goals. All our energy and focus is directed toward laying an outstanding foundation for the 2021 football season.”
According the Memorandum of Understanding signed Friday by Harbaugh, his potential bonuses are as follows:
Big Ten coach of the year: $50,000
National coach of the year: $75,000
Academic Progress Rates bonus: $150,000
Big Ten East championship (the contract specifies an outright title because Warde Manuel doesn’t play): $500,000
Big Ten championship: $1 million
New Year’s Six bowl berth: $200,000
College Football Playoff semifinal berth: $500,000
National championship: $1 million
In other words, Harbaugh has to — gasp — actually meet the program’s stated goals to earn a higher salary than most Power 5 coaches. This isn’t a novel concept for most of us, but this is downright revolutionary for a major college football coach’s contract in The Year Of Our Lord 2021. Manuel’s peers must be asking themselves what manner of sorcery allowed him to hammer out such an agreement.
The truth is the new deal reflects what Harbaugh is now: An above-average Big Ten coach who has yet to prove he can beat his rival, win his division or win the league. Doing any of those things — let’s be honest; doing the first means you can do the other two — will make Harbaugh’s pay commensurate with his achievements. Failing to do those things will get him paid less than Purdue’s Jeff Brohm or Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, which seems fair because what those two have done at their programs is, relatively speaking, more difficult than what Harbaugh has done thus far at Michigan.
And, let’s be honest again, failing to do these things another time or two will get him fired. But that would only cost Michigan $4 million after the 2021 season — dropping by $1 million after each successive season — which is relatively painless in this day and age.
Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Jim Harbaugh takes a pay cut, and Michigan takes a chance
So Harbaugh is back in the physical sense, and he should be wildly determined to prove he’s back in the competitive sense. This was the expected conclusion, but that doesn’t make it the ideal one. It’s a practical one that buys both sides time to see if the 2-4 season was just a bizarre, COVID-tinged mess, or another sign of what the program is becoming. The Wolverines are 11-10 since late 2018, after winning 10 games in three of his first four seasons.
The protracted wait raised questions about how committed Harbaugh and Michigan were to each other. While being fiscally responsible, Manuel also likely was bruising an ego. For this to succeed, Harbaugh can’t be a reluctant returnee. They tried to allay those concerns with Friday’s announcement.
If the apparent reticence was damaging perception-wise, it seemingly didn’t harm Michigan’s top-12 recruiting class. There’s only one way for Harbaugh to stem that perception slide — build a team and a staff that’s organized, energized and capable of winning big games.
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Harbaugh has told people he’s betting on himself. Michigan is betting on him betting on himself. And both are somewhat hedging their bets with the contract terms.
Not that Harbaugh and the Wolverines needed more incentive, but it’s piled so high now, it’s hard to see the field. Shortly after The Detroit News reported Thursday night that Harbaugh was nearing a deal, the jabs started coming. Ohio State and Michigan State fans took to social media to mockingly welcome him back. Ohio State’s official Twitter account did the same, “liking” reports of his return.
Some Michigan fans have angrily renounced their devotion because of Harbaugh’s return, but they’re also fibbing to themselves. They’ll be back, if Harbaugh gets to back to the acclaimed coach he has been. Those crazy early days when he was sniping at other programs on Twitter, stirring up national attention, setting up satellite camps in SEC territory, seem a long way away.
Nick Baumgardner, The Athletic: Jim Harbaugh must be ‘Captain Comeback’ to save his Michigan legacy
“My favorite year in football.”
That’s how this started. Jim Harbaugh calling pass plays up five touchdowns in the fourth quarter at the Citrus Bowl to close 2015 — with Michigan’s most dedicated supporters smiling and hugging in the Florida sunshine about a plan finally coming together.
Harbaugh’s been around and involved in high-level football all his life. Not figuratively. Literally. After a lifetime of seasons, with memorable experiences on every level, he’d deemed his first one as Michigan’s head coach his favorite year in the sport.
Now, with Year 7 at his alma mater underway, Harbaugh needs his best year in football.
Michigan and Harbaugh have agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Ann Arbor through the 2025 football season, with revised financial terms that will begin Jan. 11. Harbaugh’s new base salary, per a source, is expected to be $4 million annually — about half the amount Harbaugh’s previous contract promised him for 2021. The deal, signed by Harbaugh on Friday, also features heavy on-field performance incentives that could wind up being worth at least $8 million per year. The move puts an end to months of speculation about Harbaugh’s immediate future. Still, a source told The Athletic the school would owe Harbaugh $4 million if he’s fired after 2021. That buyout number is expected to decrease with each additional year on the deal.
Will the next chapter of Jim Harbaugh’s run at Michigan feature a new twist on the coach’s former life as “Captain Comeback”? Or will it feature more of the same issues that have resulted in the program’s obvious and clear backslide over the past two-plus seasons, effectively leaving both parties with no choice but to admit it’s time to move on?
Harbaugh, per those close to him, is approaching this with the former in mind. He was, once upon a time, known for his ability to resurrect. Michigan would love to see it happen. But business as usual is no longer a thing here. For the first time since December 2014, when former interim AD Jim Hackett got Harbaugh to put pen to paper, both Michigan and its head coach have — at least in theory — entertained the notion of what life might be like without the other.
The short-term question has been answered: Harbaugh has signed a new deal. The long-term question of whether Michigan and Harbaugh are going to be right back here in 12 months, trying to figure out if they’re still right for one another, remains.
Harbaugh will get another chance to get his alma mater on track in 2021. He faces key decisions on players, staff and scheme. The new contract is largely for show, and if Michigan's product doesn't improve next fall, Harbaugh will face legitimate pressure to keep his job.
Harbaugh's first priority is fixing a defense that this season ranked 89th in yards allowed per game, 79th in rush yards allowed per game and 96th in pass yards allowed per game.
Michigan allowed at least 24 points in every game this season. The Wolverines dealt with key injuries, but their defense was a clear weakness.
Harbaugh must make some tough choices about the defensive coaching staff, which is led by veteran coordinator Don Brown. Harbaugh loves Brown, who did a masterful job at Michigan from 2015 to 2018, a span when the defense ranked fourth nationally in both points allowed (17.2) and efficiency (80.27). But there has been a pronounced drop-off and the recruiting from a mostly older defensive staff hasn't matched the production on the offensive side.
Michigan's offense didn't produce this season either, but those coaches are the team's strongest recruiters and are bringing in talent to help turn things around.
The team's overall class rankings and stars from the recruiting trail have still been very good, but Michigan is lacking in key areas. Defensive tackle and cornerback have been weak spots, considering Michigan has landed only four defensive tackles from the 2017 through 2021 classes and two have transferred.
Along with the likely staff changes, evaluating and landing prospects who can help turn the defense around are huge priorities for Harbaugh.
He also must examine the offense, which averaged 48.5 points in Michigan's two wins but just 18.25 points in the four losses. Harbaugh's inability to groom a superstar quarterback is still the biggest mystery of his tenure. While Ohio State has accelerated its quarterback development under coaches Urban Meyer and Ryan Day, Michigan's has regressed.
Harbaugh has to take a close look at the quarterbacks on the roster, namely Cade McNamara and Joe Milton, and the players he's adding in recruiting. Then he must figure out the best path forward, which could include some staff changes. Without better quarterback play, Michigan and Harbaugh will likely be right back in this spot in 2021.
There's even a reasonable explanation for the woeful 2020, as the Wolverines lost their top receiver and cornerback to opt-outs, saw numerous stars go down with injuries and had to replace over a dozen starters on both sides of the ball without the benefit of spring practices.
Simply put, it would've been difficult for U-M to find a coach this offseason as qualified, or more so, as Harbaugh.
Even if Harbaugh achieved all of his incentives, he would make less than he was scheduled to make in 2020 (he, along with other members of the athletic department, accepted a pay cut as the school dealt with the financial backlash of the COVID-19 pandemic).
While other details are unknown, like how much money Michigan has allotted for the rest of Harbaugh's coaching staff, the Wolverines are in position to save money. That could come in handy during the pandemic, which was previously estimated by Manuel to have cost the department roughly $80 million in revenue while also forcing the department to slash 21 jobs this past fall.
Now, Michigan is paying Harbaugh a salary more commensurate with his previous six years in Ann Arbor. And the Wolverines also negotiated a much lower buyout figure, so in the scenario that this reboot fails, their exit strategy should be less costly than it was before. It would cost them just $4 million to buy out Harbaugh in Year 1, with that number decreasing by $1 million with each following year.
If Michigan had moved on from Harbaugh this offseason, it would've also faced the possibility of paying the buyout for whichever coach it chose as the replacement in addition to paying the salaries of a new staff — a less tenable proposition during these cash-strapped times.
Maybe that's where all of this is still headed: A break-up between Harbaugh and Michigan. Maybe this deal only kicks the can down the road. But Harbaugh and the Wolverines don't lose much by giving this partnership another chance.
It is going to take a massive all-in effort to right this ship. Even with news of a deal being done, anyone who follows college football closely sees a situation that is only stable on paper. That will have an impact in bringing in the best people and players this offseason. One could argue it already has, as Michigan has gone off the board to reportedly hire a 33-year-old first-time defensive coordinator. That’s not to say Mike Macdonald won’t work, but it is far from a safe hire when things feel like they are teetering. But, we have to withhold judgment until we see the entire staff come together.
At the end of the day, this is Harbaugh’s mess. We want him to be able to hit home runs with every hire he makes, but there has been plenty of talk about betting on himself. He’ll have his fingerprints over more aspects of the team than the last few years and that means he will have to dig out of the hole that currently exists. Michigan is 11-10 in the last 21 games it has taken the field for, a run that was kicked off with the now-infamous 62-39 loss in Columbus in 2018.
If Harbaugh can’t fix it in 2021, he won’t be here. For the first time since he came home to coach his alma mater, he no longer sets the terms on what his future is. The only way out is to win. This is the first time he has faced serious, legitimate pressure from the administration and his future taken out of his own hands.
We might be right back here next year. To be frank, it feels more likely than not that we are. Six years is a long time for a coach, especially the further removed we get from the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Running a coaching search in a pandemic is far from ideal, so this buys Warde Manuel time and it will no doubt cost less to move on after next season if it comes to that. It’s disappointing and disheartening that we are even having that conversation.
If the argument is that this was a true bottoming out this year and there is nowhere to go but up from here, running it back with Harbaugh at half the price with a revamped staff might be worth rolling the dice on. It might even be a more financially prudent decision. But if the financial situation is what it is all about at the expense of positioning yourself to be competitive, that is pretty disappointing.
The decision is made and the lane has been picked. Harbaugh and his program should continue to be criticized and held accountable for falling short, but we have reached the point of the offseason where screaming about his status is irrelevant because this deal is done. It’s over. Time to move on.
Put the staff together, get the players ready for the fall and the actions and performances will speak for themselves when it’s time to make the decision.
But it’s understandably frustrating when the endpoint feels so clear.
Social Media Reaction: Jim Harbaugh Signs Four-Year Contract Extension With Michigan Football
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