After weeks of the Jim Harbaugh sweepstakes, the Minnesota Vikings may be the winner.
Pro Football Talk reported on Saturday, January 29, that “the Vikings are interviewing Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.” Minnesota has landed the first reported interview involving Harbaugh this offseason just minutes after Minnesota interviewed New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
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Per source, the Vikings are interviewing Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
The two emerging candidates overshadow a field of eight head coach candidates the Vikings interviewed before hiring general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on January 26. Adofo-Mensah has past connections with both Harbaugh and Graham.
Adofo-Mensah and Harbaugh’s History
Adofo-Mensah got his start in the NFL as the San Francisco 49ers manager of research and development in 2013. He overlapped with Harbaugh for two seasons amid the franchise’s revival as a Super Bowl contender.
Harbaugh took over as head coach in 2011 — an anticipated rebuilding season for the franchise that hadn’t made the playoffs or had a winning season since 2002.
However, Harbaugh worked wonders immediately, leading the 49ers to a 13-3 regular season and an NFC Championship Game appearance. He won three consecutive NFC West titles en route to three straight conference championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in 2012. But amid a turbulent 8-8 season in 2014, Harbaugh was told he would be fired at the end of the season but stayed to the finish the season before the 49ers announced they had “parted ways” with him.
“Yes, I was told I wouldn’t be the coach anymore — and you can call it mutual. I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in a position to have a coach they didn’t want anymore,” Harbaugh said, per NFL.com. “That’s the truth of it. I didn’t leave the 49ers, I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me.”
As a lower-level executive, Adofo-Mensah likely wasn’t at the center of Harbaugh’s conflict with the front office.
If Harbaugh returns to the NFL, he will pick up his 44-19-1 NFL coaching record. His .695 winning percentage as a head coach ranks fifth all-time.
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Vikings’ Interest in Harbaugh Has Slowly Unrolled
Michigan insider John U. Bacon, formerly of The Detroit News, has followed Harbaugh’s coaching candidacy closely over the past month.
The Vikings were not considered anywhere in contention for Harbaugh through most of January before Bacon leaked an inkling of Minnesota’s interest in Harbaugh on January 23, saying, “Don’t Count the Vikings out.”
Harbaugh Watch, Day 23: Nobody Knows Anything.
But, FWIW, I’m hearing the NFL possibilities seem to be shrinking, not expanding, especially with probably the best fit, Las Vegas. Flip side, just heard, “Don’t count the Vikings out.”
See you tomorrow!
Bacon appeared on a segment of The Wolverine Digest podcast on January 27 and addressed the possibility of Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach at Michigan, taking a head coaching job with the Vikings.
“I don’t know how big of a thing it is. There has been some communication [with the Vikings]. I can say that,” Bacon said. “For awhile there was with Denver also, and that, obviously, didn’t go very far. So yeah, you never know.”
Just hours before Pro Football Talk’s report, Bacon gave his latest update, saying he’s still 80% sure that Harbaugh stays at Michigan with a 20% chance the former 49ers coach returns to the NFL. Bacon’s odds likely change with an interview on the books, and he believes if Harbaugh makes his return, it will be with the Vikings.
If Minnesota wants to hire on Harbaugh, he will have to be boughten out of his contract with Michigan, which would cost $1.5 million, per SportingNews.
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Vikings Make Move on Former 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh: Report