5 NFL teams that should hire Jim Harbaugh as their head coach
Jim Harbaugh officially conquered the biggest challenge of his coaching career Saturday as his Michigan Wolverines finally took down the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was his first win in six attempts, and Michigan now have a shot to win the Big Ten and advance to the College Football Playoff.
Harbaugh's job status could have been in question with yet another loss to the Wolverines' rivals. But the win could have him on the NFL head coaching radar now that he has proven he can lead a college football program to the peak of the game.
Harbaugh was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2014 after a stint at Stanford. He led the team to the Super Bowl and never had a losing season in four years. But he took the job at his alma mater and, after a bit of a rollercoaster ride, could look to return to the NFL on top. So which teams should target him if that is the case?
#5 - New York Jets
The New York Jets did pick up a win in Week 12 against the Houston Texans. Yet the Texans don't usually provide much of a tough challenge and the Jets still have serious problems at 3-8 on the year.
Robert Saleh is in his first season as Jets head coach, and his whole thing was supposed to be having a dominant defense. However, his team allows over 30 points per game and is easily the worst defense in the entire NFL.
#Jets HC Robert Saleh says he respects urgency from fans to win now but said in fairness ‘this is the first time this fan base is actually experiencing something like this’ adds usually it was a quick fix followed by a scramble, what we are doing ‘is an actual plan’: #TakeFlight https://t.co/Mo9mhrUfE4
Hiring Harbaugh would also be great for rookie quarterback Zach Wilson. He could be paired with a former NFL quarterback in Harbaugh and a young Jets team would get a coach with a ton of experience with players at different levels.
The Jets have already seen Sam Darnold not pan out because of bad coaching. Wilson taking the same route would be on the organization, and this hiring could stop that reality from ever being able to happen.
#4 - Chicago Bears
It seems like a foregone conclusion that Matt Nagy will be fired by the Chicago Bears at the end of the 2021 season. Ownership may just want to wait to avoid breaking the tradition of never firing a head coach during a season.
According to @JayGlazer, there were Chicago Bears players and coaches that came up to head coach Matt Nagy after the report came out saying he was going to be fired after the Lions game and told him it's been great working with him.
Like with the Jets and Wilson, Harbaugh could lead the Bears and be paired with Justin Fields for his second NFL season. Chicago does not want a repeat of the Mitchell Trubisky situation, and Harbaugh represents a proven option to develop a young dual-threat quarterback. Remember the success he had with Colin Kaepernick?
The Bears and the Jets are in a similar situation with young first-round quarterbacks. Getting Harbaugh in the building would provide an immediate advantage for any team with a young quarterback who got off to a rough start in their career.
Harbaugh in Chicago would also provide a much-needed new voice at a time when it looks like Bears players have tuned Nagy out.