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Michigan AD Warde Manuel confident Harbaugh will ‘end his career’ with Wolverines
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There’s been plenty of speculation over the last few weeks that Jim Harbaugh could be leaving for the NFL. That conversation springs up at the end of every regular season in college football.
And every year, Harbaugh continues to deny the rumors.
He did so again this season, saying Michigan has a lot to accomplish and it has big plans for the future. Harbaugh claims that the NFL rumors are brought up to try and dissuade recruits from signing with the Wolverines.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel seems to agree with his head coach on that topic. He’s not the least bit worried that Harbaugh has his eye on another job.
“Jim is one of the greatest coaches, college or pro, so I think it’s to his credit his name continually pops up,” Manuel said, according to the Detroit News. “But, I think, as I said before, when we think about bringing student-athletes here, we want the best, and we have the best coach. I just hope people understand and particularly our recruits don’t get dissuaded because people put out these rumors which this man deserves because of his ability to coach.
“But let’s draw back on the every year as soon as there’s an opening all of a sudden because his name’s mentioned that he’s not going to be here. He and I have a great relationship. We talked about this from the first year on. I have full faith in Jim, in the person he is and the leader he is of this team. I’m so happy he’s our coach. I look forward to him coaching, as I said before, until he retires from Michigan and ends his career here.”
Not only does it sound like Harbaugh is going to avoid the NFL, it doesn’t sound like Manuel is interested in evaluating his head coach’s status anytime in the near future.
Harbaugh has accumulated a 38-13 record with the Wolverines. They have a chance to hit the 11-win mark for the first time since 2011 with a victory over Florida in the Peach Bowl.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB