A national champion will be crowned on Monday, but not all college football eyes are on the Alabama-Ohio clash on Friday.
Michigan and Jim Harbaugh made the national news when the head coach signed a new five-year contract that runs through the 2025 season.
Under the new contract, Harbaugh, who earned just over $ 8 million in 2020, is suffering a significant cut in the base salary. He will receive a base salary of $ 4 million in 2021, which will increase to $ 4.426 million in 2025.
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Harbaugh now moves from Big Ten’s highest paid coach to eighth, according to a 2020 USA Today poll on college football coach salaries.
But the new deal also comes with incentives, including $ 1 million each to win the Big Ten championship game and college football. In addition, Harbaugh is entitled to a $ 500,000 bonus if Michigan wins the Big Ten East division immediately and a $ 500,000 bonus if he reaches the CFP semifinals.
The news was met with mixed reactions across the country. Here are some notable headlines and reactions to Harbaugh’s stay at Ann Arbor.
David Pollock, an analyst at ESPN College GameDay, at College Football Live: “They did this to keep recruiting together, to keep things together,” said Pollack. “It is a contract that will not have a major acquisition, which means that if they want to leave Jim Harbaugh in the near future, they can do that. Harbaugh, it was interesting. Because recruitment accompanied him during his tenure. It all started so well So it looked so bad last year. Something needs to change with this Harbaugh regime. Obviously, firing your DC … made changes.
“This does not mean that Harbaugh will be the coach for the next five years. This means that they are locking it up for recruitment purposes and we will see what it will be like next year. “
ESPN analyst Michael Wilbon in Forgive the interruption: “For people who are shocked that Harbaugh wants to go back, why isn’t he looking for a job in the NFL? One, there may not be as many NFL teams creating a market for him that he would like. But most importantly, Harbaugh wants to do that. This is your alma mater. He wants to win in Michigan. He wants to beat Ohio State University and wants to be in that playoff. That’s really why Jim Harbuagh came there. This is not like a plum job and it would be kind of bad if he had to leave it. No, this was an elite college job for him. This gives him that chance. Let me just say this, having some Big Ten sources and people I’m close to and some who went to Michigan, not all of them will be happy with this initially. The only thing that will make him happy is if he does both. “
Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan contract is a rarity – a fair deal for both parties (The Athletic)
Why Jim Harbaugh and Michigan are committed again now and what’s next (ESPN +)
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