Michigan is working on a contract extension for football coach Jim Harbaugh worth $11 million annually over five years, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations. The main hurdle remaining is a commitment in writing from Harbaugh that he will not pursue an NFL job this cycle. The salary number would take him above Ohio State coach Ryan Day and make him the second-highest-paid coach in the sport behind Alabama’s Nick Saban and his $11.4 million–per-year salary.
Harbaugh’s Wolverines just clinched their third straight Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff berth, but his on-again, off-again dalliances with the NFL have been a constant source of speculation, as his desire for another crack at a Super Bowl is well known. He interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings following the 2021 season, and last season NFL Network reported that NFL teams were again doing their homework on him. ESPN reported after he did not get the Vikings job that “Jim Harbaugh told [athletic director] Warde Manuel that this would not be a reoccurring issue and he would stay at Michigan as long as it wants him[.]”
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