Jim Harbaugh Rumors: NFL Team Contacted 49ers About Experience with Michigan HC

After a disappointing 2-4 campaign in 2020, the future of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is in flux. 

Harbaugh is entering the final year of his contract and was discussing an extension with athletic director Warde Manuel, but there have also been reports that the brother of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had his sights set on a return to the NFL.

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports corroborated that Sunday when he said that an unnamed team reached out to the San Francisco 49ers to ask "what it was like" to work with Harbaugh, who was the head coach of the team from 2011-14. 

Through his four seasons in San Francisco, Harbaugh went 49-22-1, highlighted by an NFC West division title in a 13-3 campaign in 2011 that gave the 49ers their first playoff appearance since 2002. He also brought the team to a Super Bowl XLVII loss to the Baltimore Ravens the next year.

The 49ers parted ways with Harbaugh following the 2014 season, which the team finished at 8-8. 

Harbaugh told The TK Show (h/t ESPN's Nick Wagoner) that he never had serious interest in other coaching jobs, though he was reportedly pursued by the other teams, and his decision to return to the college ranks and coach at Michigan "was just a decision I made from the heart." 

At Michigan, Harbaugh inherited a 5-7 team and turned them into a 10-3 squad in 2015, capping the season with a defeat of Florida in the Citrus Bowl. In 2016, they were poised for a College Football Playoff run before dropping their annual meeting with Ohio State, closing the year with a loss in the Orange Bowl. The squad went 8-5 in 2017 before another 10-3 campaign in 2018 and entered this year's shortened season off of a 9-4 outing in 2019. 

Michigan fired defensive coordinator Don Brown on Wednesday after five seasons with the team, which could hint at an attempt at a return for Harbaugh since he wasn't gutted in the staff change.