Could Jim Harbaugh already be eyeing a return to the NFL?
MMQB.com’s Albert Breer, a credible national reporter, says it’s not entirely out of the question, and that the Los Angeles Rams make sense now that Jeff Fisher has been fired.
“It should be the first phone call they make,” Breer said on Periscope Sunday. “He will eventually coach in the NFL again. I don’t know when it’s going to be, but he will eventually coach in the NFL again.
“And I think it’ll be in one of three places: Indianapolis, Chicago or somewhere in California. Now he may want to stay at Michigan for a decade, but his success in the NFL as a Super Bowl coach with the 49ers, his success at Michigan — I’ve said this for awhile, I believe he’s this era’s Bill Parcells. He can shake a program up, but he’s eventually going to wear people out.”
To be clear, Breer isn’t reporting Harbaugh is a slam dunk candidate for the Rams job. He used Periscope to clarify comments he told Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd about the Harbaugh rumor. But his argument about Harbaugh makes a ton of sense.
Here’s another angle from Cowherd, who thinks Harbaugh might not like the pettiness of college football’s playoff system. Harbaugh went 44-19-1 with the 49ers from 2011-2014.
“Did the horrible officiating at Ohio State feel small to Harbaugh?” Cowherd said. “Did he feel like something was robbed? He didn’t get voted into the final four, the terrible officiating, how does that sit with Harbaugh? Does it bother him? I don’t know.”
Harbaugh to the Rams would be devastating for the 49ers. Every program he’s touched — Stanford, San Francisco and now Michigan — turned into a powerhouse with him steering the ship. But he’s also burnt out at places he’s been.
The Rams have money to spend and apparently are looking to make a big splash. They still have a new stadium to fill seats with. Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan are other names that have been floated around.
If Harbaugh is totally uninterested in the job, expect him to put out a statement denying interest.
But the longer this lingers, the more enticed he could be about taking over the Rams and potentially sticking it to the 49ers twice every season.