The Luck of the Cardinal: Andrew Luck Is Back, but What About Jim Harbaugh?

The football world received one of its bigger surprises of the New Year on Thursday when presumed No. 1 draft pick Andrew Luck decided to stay in school for his junior season rather than declare for April’s NFL draft. 

Perhaps most caught off-guard by the news was the front office of the Carolina Panthers. After a 2-14 season, losing the clear-cut No. 1 pick three months before the draft cannot sit well with the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Luck was considered a lock for the No. 1 pick and drew high praise from ESPN commentators during and after the Orange Bowl game on Monday night. 

Former NFL quarterback turned ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer said that Luck was “the best prospect [he'd] ever seen.” Jon Gruden praised Luck throughout the game with his customary “this guy” routine. 

Luck did not disappoint in the biggest game of his college career either. The redshirt sophomore threw for 287 yards and four touchdowns on 18-of-23 passing. 

Beyond all of the NFL talk, Luck will continue his stellar leadership of a suddenly formidable Stanford team in 2011. Some way-too-early publications have moved Stanford into the preseason Top Five for next season.

Stanford will lose most of its offensive line, but that’s about all it will have to replace. The defense is set to lose only one prominent starter—OLB Thomas Keiser—who declared for the draft on Thursday. 

One other major piece to the puzzle could be on his way out as well. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was reportedly seeking a king’s ransom to coach the Miami Dolphins. However, late Thursday night talks reportedly broke off and the Dolphins decided to retain Tony Sparano as their head coach. 

Harbaugh was reportedly set to receive somewhere between $7-8M from the Dolphins.

The coach's first NFL suitor was the San Francisco 49ers, who were considered all but dead in negotiations until the Dolphins dropped out of the running.

The latest from Jay Glazer of Fox Sports has Harbaugh deciding between Stanford and San Francisco. Whether or not that means Luck's decision has at least begun to change Harbaugh's mind remains to be seen. 

One thing is crystal clear, however: If Harbaugh follows his quarterback’s lead and decides to forgo the NFL for now, the coach and the quarterback will likely be even hotter commodities next year at this time.