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SimPLLLLLLLe Jim "6-13" Harbaugh (B1G Suspenders McKhakiPants, Cheater Cheater Booger Eater)

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Elephant in the room: Jim Harbaugh’s contract at Michigan

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More than five years after signing a landmark seven-year contract that made him one of college football’s highest-paid coaches, Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan sit at a crossroads.

Ten days ago, on Jan. 11, Harbaugh began his sixth year at Michigan, which is set to pay him a compensation package in 2020 north of $8 million. That figure is a significant increase from December 2014, when he inked his original deal for a $500,000-a-year salary and $4.5 million in additional compensation.

Michigan tacked on an annual life-insurance policy in August 2016 that included a $2 million premium advance, to be paid to Harbaugh each year through the balance of his contract. Factor in a contract-stipulated 10 percent raise for Harbaugh in January 2018 and you arrive at the $7.5 million figure that’s widely cited these days.

And while a second 10-percent raise for Harbaugh kicked in earlier this month, bringing his pay for 2020 above $8 million, the only reference to a potential renewal is a brief, three-sentence paragraph:

“The parties agree that by December 1, 2021, they will meet and indicate whether they have a mutual interest in negotiating an extension of this Agreement," it says. “Any indication by either party that they do not desire to extend the contract shall not be considered a termination of this contract. Any agreement by the parties to discuss an extension does not operate as a guarantee that the parties will agree to an extension.”

While that sounds nice, that’s typically not how coaching contracts in college football go. The expectations are that talks happen much sooner; head coaches prefer peace of mind when it comes to their job status -- and schools prefer not being blindsided by a departure.

Harbaugh is currently five years in at Michigan, his longest tenure ever, anywhere, as a head coach. He spent three seasons at the University of San Diego before taking a job at Stanford, where he lasted four and moved up to the NFL. In San Francisco, despite reaching the NFC championship game three times, his run lasted four seasons before Michigan came calling.

Michigan, however, is a completely different set of circumstances. He attended school here, played quarterback here, and has family ties to Ann Arbor.

But there’s also the all-important recruiting factor here. Ideally, coaches would prefer walking into the family room of a prospective player with three or four years remaining on his contract. Anything less could create pause from the recruit, and open the door for competing schools to use that against Michigan.

It’s unclear whether Harbaugh, 56, and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, who did not hire Harbaugh but has praised him publicly, have started these discussions. Manuel, through a Michigan spokesman, has not returned a request for an interview. But he is on record as saying, as recently as May 2018, that he wants Harbaugh to “retire from this institution.”

“Jim knows how I feel about him,” Manuel said at the time. “We’ve had great conversations and I don’t want him to go anywhere.”

In 2019, Harbaugh’s pay made him the third-highest paid coach in college football, trailing only Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($9.3 million) and Alabama’s Nick Saban ($8.8 million). Michigan made the decision to invest heavily in its football coach, Harbaugh, to varying degrees of success.

In five seasons at Michigan, Harbaugh is 47-18 -- wining a healthy 72.3 percent of his games, with a nearly identical mark in the Big Ten. But he’s failed to lead his teams to a conference championship or the College Football Playoff; Swinney and Saban have done both, several times.

Also under Harbaugh, Michigan is 0-5 against top rival Ohio State (a stretch of losing that began long before Harbaugh, with the Wolverines having dropped 15 of their last 16 games to the Buckeyes) and 1-4 in bowl games. Besides his overall record itself, perhaps Harbaugh’s biggest on-the-field achievement to date is his 3-2 mark against in-state rival Michigan State.

Which often prompts the question from detractors: Is Harbaugh worth it?

Many administrators and top officials at Michigan still say yes. In 2017-18, the most recent data available from the NCAA, the school’s athletic department generated more than $195 million in revenue. About $125 million of that came from the football program, which continues to sell out home games at Michigan Stadium, receive lucrative payouts from the Big Ten’s TV partners and for licensing agreements.

Michigan largely remains competitive on the field thanks to its top-10 recruiting classes, but remains a step behind the best in the Big Ten and nationally. Harbaugh has a lot to do with that, and has remained out of the NCAA’s watchful eye in an era where schools have been sanctioned, lost scholarships and faced public scrutiny.

Harbaugh’s resume and Manuel’s comments publicly indicate that an extension is coming. It only makes sense given the nature of the situation. Harbaugh truly enjoys being in Ann Arbor and coaching Michigan, and the university is proud to have him.

But one has to wonder what’s taking so long. With less than two years left, the clock is ticking before this thing gets awkward.

Entire article: https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/20...-room-jim-harbaughs-contract-at-michigan.html
 
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Jim Harbaugh in the dark about Michigan’s next spring trip

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Details are still unclear at this time, but Jim Harbaugh is planning to take his Michigan football team overseas again this spring.

The destination this year, however, remains a mystery. At least to Harbaugh.

Speaking Thursday night to reporters at the Lansing Center after speaking at the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association clinic, Harbaugh said he’s put the decision on Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and his chief of staff, Doug Gnodtke.

“It’s down to two great spots," Harbaugh said. "Doug, Warde are kind of working on it.

“I’m like, surprise me.”

Harbaugh himself spent considerable time planning Michigan’s first overseas trip in 2016, to Rome, Italy, right down to the daily schedule. Staffers and administrators assisted with the team’s 2017 trip to France and 2018 excursion to South Africa.

All of the trips, some coming at a cost in excess of $1 million, have been privately funded by University of Michigan alums. And are allowed under NCAA rules.

“The first trips was like me, personally,” Harbaugh said. "It was like a one-man band. I was doing it all. And it was all time consuming.

“The guys that are doing it now -- Doug, Warde, (associate AD) Sean Magee, (director of operations) Mark Taurisani -- those guys are the best. And they’re doing a way better job, and it’s a lot more fun.”

Typically, Michigan waits until after its 15-practice spring schedule wraps up to depart for these trips. That would put a potential timeline on late April or early May, after finals conclude for the semester.

The last two trips have been strictly leisurely, with players choosing whether or not to attend. The first trip to Italy included three open-to-the-public practices, counting toward Michigan’s spring allotment.

Harbaugh declined to identify the two locations Michigan is actively considering, saying even he is in the dark. In the past, he’s mentioned London, England, Greece and Japan as possible destinations, while also throwing out the possibility of a San Diego-Washington, D.C., trip.

“I have complete trust and confidence that this is going to be another amazing trip for our players," Harbaugh said.

The Wolverines are coming off a 9-4 season, after being picked by many to win the Big Ten in 2019. Under Harbaugh, Michigan still has not reached the Big Ten title game or qualified for the College Football Playoff.

— Speaking of overseas, remember last summer when Harbaugh let it slip at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago that Michigan was planning to play a football game “on foreign soil?”

At the time, Harbaugh said an announcement was “imminent." But some six months later, crickets.

Entire article: https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/20...ark-about-michigan-footballs-spring-trip.html

Re: All of the trips, some coming at a cost in excess of $1 million, have been privately funded by University of Michigan alums. And are allowed under NCAA rules.

Then the NCAA needs to update their rules, etc.
 
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