Last one out of Ann Arbor, turn out the lights.
Michigan, you better really enjoy that national championship, because the key members of that run to the title look to be saying goodbye.
Both quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum announced this weekend they would forego any remaining eligibility to enter the NFL Draft (Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy, RB Blake Corum entering NFL draft – ESPN), and what many expected – that coach Jim Harbaugh might be seeking a return to the league – is also closer to happening.
The Associated Press reported on Sunday (Jim Harbaugh set to meet with Chargers next week about their head coaching vacancy, AP source says | AP News) that Harbaugh will meet with the Los Angeles Chargers this week, one of seven NFL teams without a coaching vacancy. The Chargers fired Brandon Staley during the season.
It won’t be the first rodeo in the NFL for Harbaugh, to be sure: the former Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts quarterback once coached the San Francisco 49ers, went 44-19-1 in four seasons and led them to a Super Bowl in the 2012 season – one that they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by none other than Harbaugh’s brother, John.
Shortly thereafter, Harbaugh left the Niners (a “mutual parting of the ways,” a phrase now trending that began with that transaction) and was hired at his alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines.
And Harbaugh may yet decide that a return to the NFL is not for him – or that the Chargers are, or maybe another franchise is. As mentioned, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Washington Commanders, the Carolina Panthers, the Atlanta Falcons, the Tennessee Titans and the Seattle Seahawks all are also without a head coach, currently.
Who knows? The Dallas Cowboys MIGHT be, after what happened Sunday against Green Bay.
Harbaugh, 60, is 89-25 at Michigan.
