Jim Harbaugh Will Be Honorary Captain for Michigan's 2024 CFB Opener vs. Fresno State

While he won't be leading Michigan on the field this year, Jim Harbaugh will make at least one appearance at the Big House during the 2024 season.

Per MLive's Aaron McMann, Harbaugh will serve as an honorary captain for the Wolverines' season-opener against Fresno State on Aug. 31.

After winning a national championship with Michigan in January, Harbaugh left the Wolverines to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, returning to the NFL after a nine-year stint in the collegiate ranks.

According to McMann, the plan to bring Harbaugh back to Ann Arbor has been in the works for months, first being suggested by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel in January. The date worked out best for both Harbaugh and the Wolverines, as the Chargers will have a free weekend before starting the NFL season a week later.

While Harbaugh will get to relive the college football coaching experience to an extent later in August, it could be a while before he's on the sidelines for a collegiate team.

The NCAA recently announced a four-year, show-cause order for Harbaugh because of recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. That order says that Harbaugh "may not participate in any coaching activities, including but not limited to team travel, video study, recruiting and team meetings" as an employee of an NCAA member institution, effectively barring him from being a coach in the NCAA until Aug. 6, 2028.

Michigan suspended Harbaugh for the first three games of the 2023 season over the same recruiting violations.

But Harbaugh will look to move forward from the violations and focus on his new duties as an NFL head coach. He inherits a Chargers team that went 5-12 a season ago, firing Brandon Staley after 14 games.

In his previous stint as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, he led the team to three NFC Championship Game appearances and a Super Bowl appearance in 2012. Now back in the NFL ranks, he'll look for similar success in Los Angeles.