Breaking Down Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Contract and How He Could Earn More

As it stands today, Michigan’s deal with coach Jim Harbaugh is rather light on the pockets.

However, the terms and conditions of his current seven-year, $35 million agreement could drastically change within 30 days of the Wolverines’ final game of the 2015 season, as athletic director Jim Hackett will assess the program’s progress and potentially reopen negotiations with Harbaugh, per a copy of the contract obtained from the university by Bleacher Report.

If his first season with Michigan is a hit, Harbaugh would likely be in line to ink a healthier deal in early-to-mid-February 2016. Winning increases market value, and reassessing the coach’s salary after the first year is part of the deferred compensation package that’s outlined by Hackett in the accompanying video below.  

Harbaugh has a golden resume and has won everywhere, so it’s safe to assume that he could soon do the same in Ann Arbor. He just left the San Francisco 49ers with the best winning percentage (.680) of any coach who spent four years in the NFL and before that, he shoved once lowly Stanford into the national spotlight.

Since signing with Michigan on Dec. 28, Harbaugh—who was officially introduced Dec. 30—has flipped a pair of 2015 recruits and assembled an All-Star cast of assistants and trainers. He’s goal driven: see target, get target.

His take-care-of-business attitude will almost certainly lead to a few more trips to the bank.

On the field

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The Wolverines haven’t experienced the thrill of appearing in the College Football Playoff or playing in the Big Ten Championship. If they happened to make the four-team playoff, Harbaugh would receive a $300,000 bonus. If they won the national title, he’d get $500,000. If Michigan reaches the conference title game, he’d earn $125,000; he’d get $250,000 if his team claimed victory.

Winning the conference has always been the goal, but Michigan hasn’t won an outright B1G banner since 2003; it last shared a piece in 2004. That must be Harbaugh’s mission this fall or next. He’s already proved he’s not wasting time.

Fortunately for Harbaugh, Michigan doesn’t have to reach the conference title bout or College Football Playoff in order for him to receive a generous bonus—he’d get $200,000 if the Wolverines simply made a bowl game.

He’d earn $50,000 for achieving Big Ten Coach of the Year status (voted by coaches), and he’d get a cool $75,000 for winning a national coach of the year honor. However, he’s only eligible for one. For instance, let’s say he won ABC/ESPN’s coach of the year but was also tabbed for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award.

He’d only get paid once, regardless.

Off the field

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Harbaugh’s base salary is $500,000 per year.

He’ll pocket that for simply coaching his team throughout the season.

However, the remaining $4.5 million per year—which will be equally distributed through 12 monthly payments—will come from other standard, non-coaching obligations and opportunities, such as media appearances, promotions and public relations.

Furthermore, he’s already received a $2 million bonus for writing his name on Hackett's paper. Per the contract, that bonus could have been paid as early as Jan. 5 or as late as Jan. 12 (a week to two weeks after signing). 

While some may view Michigan simply for its athletic programs, the rest of the general public sees it as one of the most respected academic institutions in the country. That said, meeting goals in the classroom will be just as important as reaching them on the playing field, an idea Harbaugh touched on during his inaugural address.

As a team, Michigan needs to score at least 960 on its Academic Progress Rate in order for Harbaugh to cash in his $150,000 bonus. As mentioned by Paul Vance in the accompanying video, that shouldn’t be a problem for the Wolverines. 

Luckily for Harbaugh, a strong foundation was set in place by former coach Brady Hoke, who graduated 69 of 69 seniors prior to being fired Dec. 2—that probably wouldn’t have been possible without a concentrated emphasis on academics.

Big Money, Big Money

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Depending on how scenarios unfold, Harbaugh could receive as “little” as $5 million and as much as approximately $6 million for his first year in Ann Arbor.

Realistically, given Michigan’s reputation, he’ll probably get the APR bonus and tip his total to at least $5.15 million for 2015-16. And that’s not counting paid expenses, the two dealer-provided automobiles and the rest of his exquisite fringe benefits package.

More money (including APR): Add an extra $250,000 for a conference title ($5.4 million); or $125,000 for just getting there ($5.275 million). Should he win a national championship, he’d stack $500,000 for the act and $300,000 for making the playoffs, giving him an extra $800,000 to spend on khakis and Gatorade.

But keep this in mind: Hackett and Harbaugh can completely renegotiate terms come early-to-mid-February 2016, at which time we could be talking about a record-breaking contract at any level of football.

Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan Wolverines football writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and references were obtained firsthand by the writer via press conference, press release or other media availability.

Contract details were provided by Patricia J. Sellinger of the University of Michigan via FOIA request.