Jim Harbaugh is leaving the Michigan Wolverines for the Los Angeles Chargers, therefore the team is looking for a new head coach. Brian Kelly, head coach of the LSU Tigers, is being mentioned as one of the main replacement prospects.
According to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, Michigan’s top candidate will most likely be current offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore. If the Wolverines turn down an internal candidate, Kelly is at the top of Dodd’s list.
“Kelly hit the jackpot when he went from Notre Dame to LSU,” Dodd detailed in a January 23, 2024 story titled “Michigan coaching candidates: Sherrone Moore, Brian Kelly among top options if Jim Harbaugh departs for NFL.” “Think of Michigan having a bigger jackpot. Michigan obviously has the resources to attract Kelly after offering Harbaugh a reported $11.5 million per year.
Kelly signed a lucrative 10-year, $95 million contract to leave Notre Dame for LSU in 2021. It remains to be seen if Michigan will explore outside candidates like Kelly this late in the hiring cycle.
Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh Had Been Linked to the Los Angeles Chargers the Most in NFL Rumors
The Charger finally landed Harbaugh after weeks of rumors, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. The Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans were among the NFL teams that also met with Harbaugh. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer views Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as a potential candidate to join Harbaugh with the Chargers.
“My guess is Harbaugh would bring his defensive coordinator from Michigan, Jesse Minter, to Los Angeles with him,” Breer wrote in a January 24 article titled, “Why Mike Vrabel Can Pick and Choose What He Does Next. “I think his offensive coordinator, Sherrone Moore, probably succeeds him at Michigan, though the NCAA entanglements might make that a little less than 100% certainty.
And, then, I think someone he’s worked with before such as Greg Roman (at Stanford and San Francisco, and for John Harbaugh in Baltimore) comes aboard to run the offense.”
Michigan Football Rumors: The Wolverines Made an Offer to Make Jim Harbaugh the Highest-Paid Coach in College Football
The ongoing NFL interview process gave Michigan an opportunity to entice Harbaugh to return to Ann Arbor. On3.com’s Chris Balas reported that Michigan’s latest offer would have made Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in college football.
“Sources tell us that now includes offering the coach a contract that would make him the highest-paid in college football,” Balas detailed in a January 24 story titled, “Michigan ready to make Jim Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in college football … the latest.” “It would include escalator clauses to keep it that way (automatic increases in the agreed-upon wages if certain conditions change while the contract is in effect) and language that would better protect Harbaugh against what has been an ‘aggressive’ NCAA.”
Michigan Rumors: Brian Kelly Has an Interest in Becoming the Wolverines Next Head Coach
Now, Michigan’s search officially begins but this is not the first time the Wolverines have been linked to Kelly. Prior to Harbaugh taking NFL interviews, ESPN Baton Rouge’s Matt Moscona reported that Kelly had an interest in becoming Michigan’s next head coach.
“If Brian Kelly leaves LSU before December 31st, he will owe LSU $3 million.” “Any point after that, it’s $2 million,” Moscona explained. “So, if Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan for the NFL and Michigan says, ‘We want to hire Brian Kelly.'” Brian Kelly could get out of his LSU deal for $2 million dollars. And if Michigan offered him the job, he would accept it.
