6 NFL teams that should hire Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh’s days at Michigan appear to be over. But a return to the NFL could potentially be on the horizon.

The Michigan Wolverines lured Jim Harbaugh away from the NFL back in 2015 to coach his alma mater to the national championship. It certainly didn’t happen in his first five seasons, and it’s definitely not happening in 2020.

Michigan handily defeated Minnesota 49-24 in their regular-season opener, but suffered a demeaning loss to the in-state rival Michigan State last week. They had their chance to redeem themselves against the 13th-ranked Indiana, but ended up on the losing end, falling 38-21 on Saturday.

Not all of it is Harbaugh’s fault, but he’s the man in charge, and his stay at Ann Arbor could be coming to an end soon. While that’s bad news for him, he could have a chance to return to the NFL, and there are plenty of teams that could use his services. Here are six teams that should give him a call if he were to be let go by Michigan.

6. New York Jets

It’s a foregone conclusion that the New York Jets will be in the market for a new head coach. They are 0-8 on the season as of this writing, and there’s literally no reason for the organization to bring Adam Gase back for the 2021 season. Yes, they’ve built the reputation of being an incompetently-run franchise, but even they are smarter than allowing Gase to stay beyond this year.

While the Jets are far from an enticing job, they do have a luxury that can lure any head coaching candidate to Florham Park, N.J. — the first-overall selection of the 2021 NFL Draft and the rights to select Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Harbaugh is a fiery coach who can inspire his players. Look at his successful seasons with the San Francisco 49ers in the early 2010s. It just so happens that the Jets saw similar success under an emotional head coach in Rex Ryan, which resulted in consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances. The fit is there, and it could lead to some successful seasons for the Jets.