Jim Harbaugh and the College Football Coaching Carousel

Rich Rodriguez out in Michigan. Could Les Miles be moving in?

Is Jim Harbaugh really leaving Stanford after his impressive season?

Who will Pittsburgh hand the reins over to now that Mike Haywood is no longer captaining the ship?

According to ESPN, Pittsburgh is setting up meetings and interviews will plenty of coaching candidates. However, the one that just may stand out above the rest is Alabama’s associate head coach Sal Sunseri. Sunseri has been working with Nick Saban, who has been one of the game’s best recent coaches in college football.

Sunseri has clearly seen what works, what will bring success to a college football program. He is part of the winning culture and for Pittsburgh, this should be all they need to take a chance with their program for the moment.

Now that Rich Rodriguez is out in Michigan, nobody knows who will be hired. An interesting name being thrown around is LSU’s Les Miles.

Miles has done almost all there is to do for the LSU program. He may decide that he ultimately needs a new challenge. Michigan used to be a powerhouse but has struggled for years.

Miles could take the coveted school back to the top by rebuilding the program. If he was able to succeed in doing so, he would cement his legacy as one of the greatest college football coaches in history.

With a firing always comes speculation of where a head coach could venture to next. The interesting thing for Rich Rodriguez is that despite his rough patch in Michigan and the loss of his job, this may be the best time for him to get fired.

The one thing nobody can take away from Rodriguez is the success of Denard Robinson. Robison turned into a superstar under Rodriguez this season and was a Heisman candidate early in the season.

If Rodriguez lands another coaching job, perhaps Robinson will follow him so they can continue building a program together.

Perhaps LSU loses Les Miles. Or Stanford loses Jim Harbaugh. Would it not be an interesting move to bring in both Rich Rodriguez and a potential 2011 Heisman candidate in Denard Robison together to make some noise for these two successful programs after losing their impressive coaches?

Something to consider. 

The true prize of this coaching carousel is whichever team lands Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Following their impressive season, which concluded with a 40-12 Orange Bowl victory, Stanford would love to retain the coaching services of Harbaugh to increase their recruiting. At this point, it does not seem likely that Harbaugh will return for another season.

He seems set to make his way to the coveted NFL. Two teams are in the running for Harbaugh’s services, the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins recently emerged as perhaps the leading candidate because they are reportedly set to make Harbaugh an offer that would make him the highest paid coach in the league at $7-8 million, according to Tim Kawakami on Twitter.

The 49ers are rumored to be offering in the $5 million range.

It will be extremely difficult for Harbaugh to turn down an extra $2 to 3 million. An offer like that will never come around again.

But is Miami really a better destination than San Francisco?

We saw Nick Saban fail in Miami and jet right back to the college level, where he saw immediate success once again.

In turn, Pete Carroll finally made the jump back to the NFL, taking a job with the lowly Seattle Seahawks in the awful NFC West division.

What happened?

Carroll made the playoffs by winning the division with a losing 7-9 record in his Seattle coaching debut.

If Harbaugh takes Miami’s money, he has to deal with the superior New England Patriots and New York Jets. He is almost setting himself up for failure.

Of course, anything can happen in the NFL.

Still, if Harbaugh wants a better road to success in the NFL, the 49ers job presents as much a rebuilding project as Miami but with an easier road to the Super Bowl.

The 49ers have the seventh overall pick in April’s NFL draft. Although Andrew Luck is expected to go No. 1 overall to Carolina if he enters the draft, Harbaugh would still have an opportunity to land one of the other coveted quarterbacks in a quality draft class as there is no chance that he would retain Alex Smith or Troy Smith as his starting quarterback.

In San Francisco, Harbaugh would already boast three players towards the top of their positions in addition to an emerging threat.

Running back Frank Gore is one of the most complete backs in the game. He has fantastic vision, speed, power and receiving ability.

Linebacker Patrick Willis is arguably the best defender in the game. His playmaking ability is top notch. His sideline to sideline speed is remarkable in addition to his powerful run stopping and ability to drop back in coverage makes him quite possibly the most complete defender in the league.

Vernon Davis may just be the most gifted tight end in the game. He has excellent speed, hands, size and leaping ability. He is the definition of a freak athlete.

Michael Crabtree could turn into one of the game’s best possession receivers with his solid hands and route running.

Clearly the core is there for Harbaugh to turn the 49ers back into a Super Bowl contender. The 49ers are one of the game’s greatest franchises but they have underachieved and unsuccessful for the most part this past decade.

The hunt for Harbaugh is heating up.

The rumors are swirling by the hour.

Where exactly will he land? Stanford, San Francisco or Miami?

Most importantly, which is the best option for the most coveted free agent coach?