Michigan Football: NFL might be Jim Harbaugh’s ticket out of Ann Arbor

Will Jim Harbaugh bolt to the NFL if things continue to get worse? Michigan football and the college scene might just be too much for the coach.

This was the year. The year that Michigan wins the Big 10. With Urban Meyer out at Ohio State and Penn State expecting to have a down year, the East Division would be Michigan’s to claim.

In the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast!”

The Wolverines opened the season with a bit of a struggle against Middle Tennessee. At the end of the day, a Michigan victory was claimed, 40-21. Every team has those first week jitters, so there was need to hit the panic button just yet.

Week 2, a very impressive Army team takes Michigan into double overtime. By the skin of their teeth, the Wolverines come out victorious. A bit of a panic moment? Yeah, maybe. But don’t sleep on Army. Jeff Monken and his triple option offense comes straight from Paul Johnson. The Black Knights always mean business.

During both of those games, Michigan naysayers saw right through the team. One of those nonbelievers, SEC television and radio host, Paul Finebaum, spoke out, saying that Jim Harbaugh was “a total fraud and charade”.

Michigan fans stayed hopeful. With a 2-0 start on the season, why not?

Week 4 squashed any hope. The Wolverines got absolutely embarrassed by an in-conference opponent. Their chances of winning any championships flew right out the window. Wisconsin’s 35-14 victory over Michigan was a plain ol’ fashion butt whoopin’.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the loss stung, but what really hurt Michigan was the way that Harbaugh handled the situation on both on and off the field.

The man has lost his spark. There seems to be no interest coming from him anymore. The Jim Harbaugh that we saw at Stanford, the 49ers, and even the early days at Michigan is gone.

Of course none of us can speak for his mentality, but something isn’t quite right. It’s hard to believe that he would give up on his Alma mater. There is so much history between the Wolverines and the Harbaugh family. Jim’s father, Jack, coached in Ann Arbor throughout the 70s, and Jim, himself, was a stud of a quarterback for the program.

It’s highly doubtful that Michigan would fire their only son. After the poor performance against Wisconsin, it’s pretty much guaranteed, unless a major change occurs, that the Wolverines will fall to both Notre Dame and Ohio State. That might seem bad on paper, but in all reality it’s not.

Michigan can go 9-3, win a major bowl game, and still finish with an overall record of 10-3. That is the same record that Harbaugh’s Wolverines finished with last year. I think that scenario would make the Michigan administration pretty happy. No change is better than going backwards, right?

Here is the killer question. If Michigan retains, then does Harbaugh accept?

Probably not.

Three jobs could open up in the NFL. Harbaugh has proven that with a good quarterback that he can have success in the league. And we aren’t talking about mediocre success, we are talking about Super Bowl level success.

Jim Harbaugh needs the NFL like a fish needs water. He would no longer have to worry about rivalry expectations, and the pressure of recruiting would be far gone.

If things continue to get worse, then I highly expect Harbaugh to make the jump back to the pros. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, or Jacksonville Jaguars could be his ticket out of Ann Arbor.

It’s very odd to see a lackluster Harbaugh. It almost seems like Michigan has sucked his spirit out of him and put him in a state of football depression. Is the college scene too much for Harbaugh? I think so. That’s why he got out in the first place.