Is Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan to coach Dolphins, not Vikings? Let’s feast on more insane rumors

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh may be leaving for the Miami Dolphins head-coaching vacancy and not the Minnesota Vikings opening.

With NFL head coaching vacancies being filled across the league, we’ve reached the point in the cycle where Jim Harbaugh hype is the most delicious thing on the menu. Could he be leaving Michigan for an NFL team?

The question is almost too enticing to pass up, and everyone has taken every last piece of bait.

The Harbaugh rumors haven’t really calmed down since the beginning of the year. First, there were rumblings before the National Championship Game that Harbaugh was preparing to parlay his historic season at Michigan into a return to the NFL. There were initial rumblings that Brian Flores had been fired in Miami to make way for Harbaugh. After a lull in the rumor mill, it appeared the Las Vegas Raiders were would be the team that Harbaugh would leave Michigan for, which came around the same time as rumors that Harbaugh would need a ‘Godfather offer’ to leave Ann Arbor. Within the last few days, Harbaugh was mentioned as a candidate for the Minnesota Vikings job, and now he’s once again — in true full-circle fashion — being mentioned with the Miami Dolphins gig again.

There’s a lot to unpack, and this all likely ends with Harbaugh hunched over and gritting his teeth on the sideline in Ann Arbor in September, albeit a much richer man. Kernels of truths can be found in most of the rumors so far, or at the very least you can see where people are coming from when trying to attempt the gymnastics necessary to make it all make sense. Take, for instance, the Vikings gig as Harbaugh’s connection with new Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been mentioned as a reason why he could have had that job, but Harbaugh prefers Miami.

Of course, the truest destination for all of this seems to be Harbaugh staying in Ann Arbor if Michigan pays up.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is also a Michigan alum, so this may play a part in Harbaugh leaving his alma mater to go to Miami. Since it seems we’re back at Square One of the Harbaugh Rumor Complex, let’s indulge ourselves with seeing a world where he goes to Miami Gardens.

Jim Harbaugh rumors: Michigan head coach could leave for Miami Dolphins

Harbaugh has had reported interest upon an NFL return in the past. He left the San Francisco 49ers after the 2014 season to go lead his alma mater’s team, a job he has held ever since. Though Michigan is coming off its best season in decades, Harbaugh rarely stays anywhere for very long. He could have a ton of interest in coaching Tua Tagovailoa as his starting quarterback.

Miami had interest in former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who opted to take the New York Giants job late last week. The two other supposed finalists for the jobs would be a pair of first-time head coaches in Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, whose team is still alive in the playoffs.

And that’s where it gets interesting. If the 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams for a third time this season, that would mean two more weeks before a candidate like McDaniel could conceivably take over. If Harbaugh left Michigan, the Wolverines could look at the likes of Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell or Matt Rhule of the Carolina Panthers.

If Harbaugh went to Miami, the expectation would be for the team to make the playoffs next year.