NFL rumors: QB connection at the heart of Jim Harbaugh's next NFL suitor

As Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines prepare for Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl as part of the final four-team College Football Playoff, another NFL job has opened up... Weeks ago, the Las Vegas Raiders moved on from Josh McDaniels. Not long after that, David Tepper decided Frank Reich needed to go during his first year leading the Carolina Panthers into the ground.

Then, the Los Angeles Chargers' job opened up. It had been occupied by the greatest imposter the NFL world has ever seen in Brandon Staley. The Bolts should have fired him after losing an unthinkable one to the Jacksonville Jaguars during Wild Card Weekend. Not doing so allowed for Sean Payton, who was in your metroplex working for FOX Sports, to go to a division rival in Denver.

So how does Harbaugh factor into all this? Well, he played for the Panthers and Chargers at the tail-end of his playing career. After hanging up the spikes, he immediately got into coaching with the Raiders as Bill Callahan's quarterbacks coach from 2002 to 2003. Harbaugh has been a head coach ever since. He has been at San Diego, Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers, and now at his alma mater.

But does Harbaugh have any interest in going back to the NFL after having played flirt with the Minnesota Vikings two hiring cycles ago? Who knows, but Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz believes the Chargers have real interest in hiring their former quarterback to lead them and franchise quarterback Justin Herbert out of the darkness and into the bright lights of meaningful L.A. football!

And if you needed a fresher, ESPN's Mike Greenberg was on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this month. He discussed a conversation he had with Harbaugh previously. While Greenberg's story did not indicate if Harbaugh was interested in leaving Michigan for the NFL, he did expound on how much he loves watching Herbert play. He told Greenberg Herbert is his favorite young quarterback in the NFL.

The Chargers need to overcome ownership issues, but Harbaugh has shown he can win anywhere.

NFL QB connection ties Jim Harbaugh to Justin Herbert and Chargers

Although there are plenty of reasons why a sought-after head coach like Harbaugh would consider teams with head-coaching vacancies such as the Chargers, Panthers and Raiders, there will be other jobs opening. I would venture to guess we could have upwards of eight head-coaching vacancies, with ones in Atlanta and Washington probably the most likely of any team who still has a head coach.

I don't know if the Atlanta Falcons or the Washington Commanders would be all that appealing to a head coach like Harbaugh who is about to turn 60. However, Atlanta and Washington could be in a position to either draft a franchise quarterback or trade for one under a new, or slightly altered, administration. What I do know is Herbert is the best known commodity without a head coach now.

Ultimately, the Chargers could be the best job available, but ownership is not great with any of the three listed jobs. For that reason, I think Harbaugh probably stays in Ann Arbor until a team with first-class ownership opens up. We are talking about someone greater than Arthur Blank in Atlanta. I am talking about something like the Pittsburgh Steelers if The Rooneys have grown tired of Mike Tomlin.

To be frank, there is also a possibility that Harbaugh trades for Herbert on a totally different NFL team.