Michigan decided to stay with coach Jim Harbaugh, finalizing a new five-year contract that cuts his guaranteed pay, but gives him the opportunity to make up for the financial loss if he starts winning championships.
The school will pay him $ 4 million in 2021, with the chance to earn almost $ 8 million in the fifth year of his contract, according to the memorandum of understanding signed by Harbaugh and sports director Warde Manuel on Friday. market.
Harbaugh can win $ 1 million for winning the Big Ten title and another $ 1 million for winning the national championship along with other bonuses he will earn if he can improve the team’s success on the field.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“My thanks to sports director Warde Manuel for his confidence in allowing me to continue coaching the University of Michigan football team, and to President Mark Schlissel and the Board of Regents for their continued support,” said Harbaugh.
The deal ends months of speculation about Harbaugh’s future. He could potentially have returned to the NFL or the school could have dismissed a coach with a year remaining from the seven-year contract, paying him about $ 7 million per season that he signed after leaving the NFL.
“I still believe that Jim is the right man to lead our program in search of the Big Ten and CFP championships,” said Manuel. “Our program has not reached the level that everyone expected this year, but I know that these setbacks will keep coaches, players and the team moving forward. Jim is a hard worker and competitor. it will be necessary for Jim to lead and put us back on the right track. “
Harbaugh is now under contract with Michigan until the 2025 season with his new deal, which includes relatively affordable acquisitions for both sides, should they decide to split up.
Michigan can buy Harbaugh’s contract for $ 4 million if it decides to dismiss him without cause after the 2021 season and the amount is reduced by $ 1 million in each of the following three years. Harbaugh, meanwhile, owes the university $ 2 million if he leaves after the 2021 season, a figure that is reduced by $ 500,000 in each of the next three years.
Harbaugh has won almost 70% of his games, but he has not won archrival Ohio State and is an underdog against any opponent. Michigan has not won the Big Ten since 2004, seven seasons after his last national championship.
The Wolverines were 2-4 in Harbaugh’s sixth season, which ended with three consecutive games being canceled due to an outbreak of COVID-19 within the program. They went 0-3 at the Big House, too, including apathetic defeats to rebuild rival Michigan State and the previously unsuccessful Penn State.
“There is work to be done and challenges to be faced,” said Harbaugh. “These challenges are being faced as we continue to strive to achieve excellence in the classroom and championships in the field, a message that I hope will be noted in the language of our signed contract.”
Harbaugh’s signing was hailed in late 2014 and some have suggested that the former Wolverines defender would be a savior for college football’s most successful program.
It hasn’t worked out so far.
Harbaugh has a 49-22 record, but his 0-5 mark against the Buckeyes is striking. And when Wisconsin beat the Wolverines 49-11 in 2020, Harbaugh dropped to 0-11 in games that his team was not the favorite to win.
Harbaugh seemed to be the perfect person to reverse the Michigan program, which fell after Lloyd Carr’s retirement in the 2007 season, due to his success with the San Francisco 49ers and as a coach at Stanford.
He did not diminish his enthusiasm with two seasons of 10 wins, but he continued with an average of four losses in the following three years. It all came together with a salesmanship that stood out in the sober Big Ten: Harbaugh starred in a rap video, traveled around the country for youth camps, took his team to Florida on spring break and abroad on trips and even had a slumber party with a recruit.
It all helped his Q score, but it didn’t help much for his wins and losses.
There were questions about Harbaugh’s future long before the start of this season altered by the pandemic. In July, Harbaugh said he was closing a contract extension earlier this year until the pandemic became a top priority.
This left Harbaugh in trouble as he entered the uncertain season with just a two-year contract. When Harbaugh was on a Zoom call with reporters for the first time in more than three months to predict the season, he said there were no updates on contract negotiations.
“Other fish – bigger fish – for frying,” he said then.
Expectations were modest for his inexperienced team, who were in 18th place and rose slightly after a dominant victory at the time. 21 Minnesota.
The situation got worse in the next game, when the Spartans and first year coach Mel Tucker defeated Michigan, who were favorites to win by another 20 points. Indiana and the Badgers took turns defeating the Wolverines, who needed three Rutgers extensions to win their second victory.
Manuel, a former Harbaugh teammate under coach Bo Schembechler, has said many times that he wants Harbaugh to lead the Wolverines until he chooses to retire from the coach. And Harbaugh seems to be happy training at school and living in the city where his father was one of Schembechler’s assistant coaches.