5 candidates to replace Matt Nagy as Bears head coach

1. Jim Harbaugh, University of Michigan Head Coach

With a bad loss to Indiana last Saturday, the Michigan Wolverines are 1-2 on the shortened season as the defense has looked particularly bad all season. Calls for Harbaugh to be gone, as nears the end of contract that goes through 2021, are easy right now.

The cache of being a “Michigan Man” has faded. In the context of his predecessors Harbaugh has done pretty well, now into his sixth season (48-20 record). But until he beats Ohio State, and even consistently beats Michigan State for that matter, his tenure will be about unfulfilled expectations.

Speculation about a return to coaching in the NFL is never too far from Harbaugh’s name. He could choose to leave his alma mater on his own after the season. A contract extension at Michigan would mostly be ceremonious at this point, to reduce talk of him being a lame-duck in 2021 and as a tentacle when he’ll be gone.

The end of his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers was not a good look for anyone. But Harbaugh had a lot of success there, reaching the NFC Championship Game in each of his first three seasons (with one Super Bowl appearance) before things went off the rails. An 8-8 mark in his fourth season led to a parting of ways that may as well have been called a firing.

Harbaugh of course spent the first part of his NFL playing career with the Bears, making 65 starts over that span (1987-1993). His inability to find a good quarterback at Michigan lingers over him right now, albeit with Joe Milton showing some promise this season, and that would be his challenge almost anywhere he might go in the NFL.

The Bears are not a completely lost cause yet. But even an early exit from an expanded playoffs this year should not save Nagy. Could Harbaugh be that much-needed new voice? The prospect is absolutely worth consideration, regardless of who will be making the decision to fire Nagy and hire a new head coach in Chicago.