In this economy, Jim Harbaugh’s buyout may keep him off the firing line at Michigan

Michigan football fans may want to fire him but Jim Harbaugh buyout information and salary details may keep him in Ann Arbor for another year.

The Michigan Wolverines certainly shouldn’t be happy with how their season has started, and there’s no way that Michigan football fans are happy with the way things are going through the first few weeks of the season.

Michigan has gotten off to a rough start. The Wolverines sit at 1-2 through the first three weeks of 2020 and those two losses come at the hands of Michigan State (who lost to Rutgers just one week prior to beating the Wolverines) and Indiana.

Given that bumpy beginning, it’s fair to start wondering if Harbaugh will still be the head coach in Ann Arbor when this season wraps up.

In this economy, keeping Jim Harbaugh is the likely outcome

Should they decide to part ways with its current head coach, the Wolverines would have to scrounge together a fairly significant amount of money. It appears as if Michigan would be responsible for paying Harbaugh’s annual base salary and additional compensation for the remainder of the term.

What’s that mean?

At the beginning of his contract, Harbaugh’s base salary started out at $500,000 and his additional compensation started at $4,500,000. That’s a combined $5 million at the start of his contract, not counting any bonuses. Harbaugh’s contract year starts on Jan. 11 every year and then ends on Jan 10 of the following year (so, contract year six runs from Jan. 11, 2020 – Jan 10, 2021).

Should Harbaugh be let go as of Dec. 1, 2020, Michigan would be responsible for paying him a grand total of $6,367,929, according to USA Today. If he’s fired before then, he’d be paid a bit more. Essentially, he’d be getting somewhere around $10 million for the sixth and seventh years of his contract.

It’s worth noting Michigan would also have to pay the difference in some insurance coverage, but the language in Harbaugh’s contract doesn’t directly state what that amount would be. Michigan would only be on the hook for that for a short period of time (until Harbaugh got a new job, 18 months, or until Harbaugh and his dependents no longer qualify for COBRA coverage).

Should Michigan fire Jim Harbaugh?

Harbaugh’s overall record as Michigan’s head coach is respectable, but the Wolverines had their eyes set on Big Ten championships, as well as national championships when they hired him. Harbaugh’s winning 70.6% of his games and boasts a record of 48-20, but he’s unable to get his team to the College Football Playoffs and, well, he can’t even get a bowl win.

Michigan’s lone bowl win under Harbaugh came back in the 2015 season in the Citrus Bowl. Since that Citrus Bowl win, the Wolverines have lost a couple of Outback Bowls, a Peach Bowl, and last season’s Citrus Bowl.

Oh, and there’s the fact that Harbaugh hasn’t beaten Ohio State. That’s not exactly a great thing to have one your resume if you’re coaching the Michigan Wolverines. Losing to your biggest rival consistently is actually bad!

The biggest questions about possibly dumping Harbaugh are 1. Can Michigan scrape enough money together to buy him and his assistants out while also paying enough for the next coach? 2. Can you guarantee that you’ll hire a guy that’s really going to consistently perform better than Harbaugh and win more than 70 percent of his games?

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.