Getty Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh after the Wolverines defeated Purdue in the Big 10 Championship.
It’s still uncertain if the Denver Broncos are going to fire head coach Nathaniel Hackett this season, but after owning a 3-10 record and one of the worst offenses in team history, there’s a realistic chance he’s gone.
If the Broncos decide to make a change at head coach, one name has stood out quite a bit and that’s Jim Harbaugh.
Harbaugh is currently the head coach up at the University of Michigan with his Wolverines just one game away from competing for a national championship.
Almost getting the Minnesota Vikings head coaching job last season, Harbaugh has been one of the most popular names in the NFL world. One big question though is, would he make a jump back to the NFL for any head coaching job or will he get to pick and choose?
Joel Klatt of Fox Sports joined 104.3 The Fan in Denver for his weekly appearance and explained that it’s highly unlikely that Harbaugh would end up in Denver.
“They’re [Broncos] are not in a state in which you would expect them to win anytime soon in large part because of their issues on the offensive and defensive line. In order for Jim [Harbaugh] to be successful he has to play a very specific style of football, which is owning the line of scrimmage and I don’t think he would be able to do that in Denver.”
Klatt would go on to explain why Russell Wilson’s contract could be an issue because of how poorly he has played this season.
“He wouldn’t want to be tied to a contract with his quarterback where you got questions about whether if the quarterback should be playing or not.”
Klatt mentioned that the Broncos are not even the right fit for Harbaugh to leave Michigan.
“There’s no way Jim Harbaugh would take the Broncos job. Not only did he say that he’s kind of done with the flirtation of the NFL, but even if he were to entertain or have a flirtation with the NFL, it would be for a job that was much more stable and had pieces within the organization and the team and specifically the quarterback, that were built to go out and succeed right away.”
It also makes you wonder if former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton falls into the same category.
Harbaugh has had Success Everywhere
After spending 14 seasons in the NFL as a quarterback, Harbaugh decided to get into coaching where he landed his first head coaching job at the University of San Diego.
In his first season, Harbaugh led the Toreros to a 7-4 record and finishing second in the Pioneer Football League. In his second and third seasons as head coach, San Diego piled up 11-1 records in both years and won back-to-back Pioneer Football League Championships.
This led Harbaugh to being hired as the head coach of Stanford. Taking over a program that won just one game in 2006, Harbaugh eventually led the team to a bowl game three years later.
During his time at Stanford, Harbaugh helped coach and develop Andrew Luck, who eventually became the first-overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
In 2011, Harbaugh made the jump to the NFL as he became the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
In his first season with San Francisco, Harbaugh got the 49ers to the NFC Championship game before they fell to Eli Manning and the New York Giants.
The following season, the 49ers ended up in the Super Bowl of 2013, but fell just short to the Baltimore Ravens.
After the 2014 season, the 49ers and Harbaugh decided to part ways which allowed him to become the head coach of Michigan just two days later.
Once taking over the program at Michigan, Harbaugh took over a 5-7 program and turned them into a power house. In the first seven seasons that Harbaugh has coached his alma mater, the Wolverines have appeared in six bowl games and have won more than 10 games five times.
Michigan has also won the Big 10 twice.
There’s no doubt that Harbaugh would be on top of the Denver’s list because of his success, but it’s going to be tough to convince him to end up coaching the Broncos.
Other Options than Harbaugh
Dan Quinn: Last offseason, Quinn was arguably the hottest name that many thought would be hired as a team’s head coach. Instead, Quinn didn’t receive an offer he liked so he remained with the Dallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator.
In his first season as the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, Quinn turned the 28th ranked scoring defense into the seventh best in 2021. Through 11 games this season, Dallas owns the top scoring defense with Denver sitting in second-place.
Being a head coach before, Denver could stop their streak of hiring first-time head coaches like Vance Joseph, Vic Fangio, and Hackett.
Quinn will once again be the hottest name in coaching circles in the offseason because of his experience coaching the Atlanta Falcons.
In his six seasons as the leader of the Falcons, Quinn lead Atlanta to an overall record of 43-42 with two winning seasons and a trip to a Super Bowl.
Kellen Moore: The stock has been rising and continues to rise for Moore. In recent years, Moore has interviewed for multiple jobs, but just hasn’t landed one yet.
Last season, the Broncos interviewed with Moore in the offseason before they made their decision to go with Hackett. Moore, 34, has served as the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator since 2018. During that span, Moore has helped elevate Dak Prescott’s game and even this year, Moore helped Cooper Rush quarterback the Dallas offense to a 4-1 record when Prescott was injured.
Moore could be a solid option if the Broncos want to continue their search of that rising star.
Brian Callahan: In the offseason, Callahan, who was a Broncos offensive assistant and quality control coach from 2010 to 2015, also interviewed with Denver, but he eventually remained with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Callahan, 38, has been on Zac Taylor’s coaching staff since 2019 as offensive coordinator. Learning the West Coast offense under Gary Kubiak in 2015 and being part of it again with the Bengals, Callahan has helped the development of quarterback Joe Burrow.
If the Broncos want to continue to run the West Coast offense for Wilson, Callahan could be a fit to improve the Denver offense in the future.