Jim Harbaugh Finished 3rd in the 1986 Heisman Trophy Voting as Michigan’s Quarterback
Sportsbook AG pulled the “Jim Harbaugh to Michigan” proposition bet after a massive amount of betting on the line. The odds leaped from 8-to-1 to 2-to-1 on Friday, which indicates a suspicious amount of betting on the hypothetical scenario.
Michigan Wolverines Ties
It’s natural that Jim Harbaugh would be linked to such a job. He was a star quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines in his college days, before leading the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts on playoff runs in the 1990s. He was given the nickname Cap’n Comeback, for his feistiness and never-say-die attitude.
Harbaugh showed he could inspire young athletes and win at the college level of football at Stanford. With Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck at the head of the Stanford Cardinal squad, Harbaugh nearly led the team (not considered a traditional power) to the National Title game. Several NFL teams wanted Harbaugh as their head coach, which brought him to his current team.
San Francisco 49ers Tenure
Jim Harbaugh is currently the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. During the first three years of his four-year term, the Niners have had a resurgence. San Francisco has made it to the NFC Championship Game all three previous years of Harbaugh’s tenure.
The Niners lost in the title game to the eventual world champion New York Giants in 2012 and the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. In 2013, the Niners advanced to the Super Bowl. After falling behind to the Baltimore Ravens, the Niners mounted a memorable comeback that fell just short in the Super Bowl’s waning moments.
Therefore, the Niners have been remarkably close to a world title these past few year. Each year of Harbaugh’s tenure, the 49ers have required the eventual world champion to put them out of the playoffs. But certain coaches wear thin on a football squad, due to the intensity they bring to the locker room. Jim Harbaugh is thought to be one of those coaches.
Confrontational Style
Harbaugh has been confrontational throughout his time in San Francisco. In a trip back to Michigan to play the Detroit Lions in 2012, Harbaugh had a confrontation with then-Lions head coach Jim Schwartz. Harbaugh also has had run-ins with Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll–including confrontations with Carroll going all the way back to their Pac-10 rivalry, when Carroll coached the USC Trojans.
Jim Harbaugh also had several former Stanford Cardinal players call him out, as well. Of course, those players were playing for the arch-rival Seahawks at the time: controversial Richard Sherman and “Angry” Doug Baldwin. This year, Niners players appear to be grumbling to the sports media about his style of coaching. The Niners front office also is thought to have tired of his style.
Losing and Raiders Rumors
What has changed is the wins and losses. It’s easier to put up with intensity and tension when the team is winning. The 49ers are on the edge of missing the playoffs for the first time during Harbaugh’s time as their head coach. Most embarrassing of all, the Niners lost 24-13 to the lowly Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
Ironically, it might be the Raiders who are the biggest threat to those gamblers who bet on the Harbaugh-to-Michigan proposition. Speculation in recent weeks has suggested Harbaugh might take his coaching talents across the bay from San Francisco to Oakland, where the Raiders are perennially in need of a head coach. Harbaugh moved across town from Stanford to the 49ers, so presumably his family might relish the opportunity to remain rooted in the Bay Area.
January 2015 Update
The return of Jim Harbaugh to his alma mater was one of the worst-kept secrets of the US sports world in 2014. No wonder the sportsbooks decided to pull these bets. Jim Harbaugh became the head coach of the Michigan Wolverine just days after the end of the San Fransisco 49ers’ season. Harbaugh attended the University of Michigan from 1982 to 1987. As a 5th-year senior, he led the Wolverines to the 1987 Rose Bowl, though the Wolverines lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils, 22-17.
Harbaugh was drafted with the 26th pick of the 1st round of the 1987 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. The Bears were an NFL power at the time, just two years removed from their historic 1985 Bears season. Harbaugh walked into a situation with an injured Jim McMahon and an expectant Doug Flutie, so it was not conducive to success. He had a 14-year NFL career, playing for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions (briefly as a Practice Squad player), and the Carolina Panthers.
His greatest success in the NFL was with the Indianapolis Colts, whom he led to the 1996 AFC Championship Game. Harbaugh was known as Cap’n Comeback, for his last minute heroics. Only a dropped Hail Mary pass kept the Colts from the Super Bowl that year.
