The University of Michigan's extraordinary offer that compelled Jim Harbaugh to spend Christmas week seriously consider leaving the NFL to coach the Wolverines was a stroke of genius in myriad ways.
Foremost, a giant sack of cash in a six-year deal reportedly worth $48 million or $49 million -- which the university has done little to deny -- gets everybody's attention.
It announces to the world, most notably the vast alumni network the university likes to boast about, that Michigan athletics, under new management with President Mark Schlissel and interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett, is serious about returning the university to what it considers its rightful place among the college football elite.
It also stopped all the rumor-mongering in its tracks. No wild rumors by bored bloggers throwing stuff against a wall. No posturing by other coaches hoping to re-write their contracts based on unfounded information so common in these searches.
Michigan has made it clear that it has one candidate for this job, and one candidate only. And they've made him an offer that should be impossible to refuse.
To his credit, Harbaugh hasn't been saying much about the Michigan offer. He's the coach of the San Francisco 49ers and he has one more game to coach with a team whose wheels fell off weeks ago. Though he has a year left on his contract with San Francisco, Sunday will be his last game with that team, and Michigan should know within a day or two whether it will get its man.
Meantime, Harbaugh, the former U-M quarterback under iconic coach Bo Schembechler, has been getting plenty of advice. Everybody from well-heeled boosters to former U-M players and even FOX TV analyst Terry Bradshaw are saying the same thing: "Take the money, Jim. Go home to Ann Arbor, where you know you belong and where you know you'll be happy."
It's really hard to imagine Harbaugh passing up this kind of an offer. While his credentials as a coach in college or the NFL are redoubtable, it's clear his personality is better suited for the college game. Yes, he took the Niners to the playoffs three straight years, and all the way to the Super Bowl in 2013. But in the fourth year of a five-year deal he lost his players. They quit on him like college players won't.
If Harbaugh takes the Michigan job, he could be there awhile. A six-year deal would keep him in Ann Arbor until he's 56, at least. That's getting rather late in life for a coach. The natural thing to do would be to sign on for another hitch or two and stick around 10-12 years. In other words, he could be a lifer at Michigan, which is what Hackett is looking for.
With a contract starting at $8 million a year, nearly a million more than Alabama's Nick Saban's nation-leading $7.1 million, Harbaugh can enjoy a fairly comfortable career at Michigan. All he has to do is win, and graduate his players -- something he's done at every stop on his collegiate coaching resume.
Should Harbaugh do the unthinkable and turn down the Michigan gig to stay in the NFL with another club, like Oakland, the Wolverines remain in a good position to land someone prominent on their short list.
Again, that offer to Harbaugh comes into play. It got everyone's attention. And though others on their list probably won't see a Harbaugh-like offer, every potential candidate now knows that Michigan is willing to pay for the kind of coaching talent it believes will put it back on the football map.
No matter what happens, Michigan football is going to come through this in better shape. After eight forgettable years under two embarrassing coaching regimes, that's something to look forward to.
