Should Michigan give Jim Harbaugh a lifetime contract?

Jim Harbaugh has two years left on his current contract, but should Michigan give him a lifetime deal?

After the debacles that were the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke eras, the University of Michigan hoped to revive the program by hiring Jim Harbaugh as the next football coach. Harbaugh played for the legendary Bo Schembechler, and fit the bill as a “Michigan Man” to make his former head coach proud.

In five seasons, the Wolverines have a 47-18 record under Harbaugh (32-12 in the Big Ten). But he’s also 0-5 against rival Ohio State, with four straight bowl game losses. He is one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, at $7.5 million for this year, but with the coronavirus pandemic fostering cuts at universities he has agreed to take a 10 percent pay cut.

Harbaugh has two years left on his current contract, so serious talk about his future is sure to ramp up soon and rumors of a return to coaching in the NFL never seem far away. Earlier this month, during a video interview, Harbaugh said a contract extension was close before the pandemic hit.

“There’s bigger fish to fry for our athletic director, or our administration, me as a coach,” Harbaugh said during an interview on Zoom. “It hasn’t been on the top of the priority list. I would expect something, that there would be an announcement at some time.”

“It was kind of right there last February, where it was being discussed, and then the pandemic hit,” Harbaugh recalled.

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel has said multiple times he wants Harbaugh to be the Wolverines coach until he retires from coaching. Harbaugh is 56 years old, so health and overall desire permitting he has a lot of years left in him as a coach.

Should Michigan give Jim Harbaugh a lifetime contract?

Harbaugh has won plenty of games at Michigan, but Ohio State has been and will remain a huge hurdle. Losing four straight bowl games is not ideal either, especially as the losses started in the Orange Bowl and have subsequently come in the second-tier Outback, Peach and Citrus Bowls.

The Wolverines have won 10 games three times under Harbaugh, and finished in the top-20 of both the Coaches and AP polls in four of his five seasons. But a significant next step on a national scale, rooted in not being able to beat Ohio State since Harbaugh is 3-2 against both Michigan State and Penn State, will remain a tough proposition.

A lifetime contract is a slippery concept, but Harbaugh will probably be able to coach at Michigan  as long as he wants to. Even if his tenure never quite meets lofty expectations in terms of Big Ten and national titles, the brass in Ann Arbor should be happy to have him.