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After weeks of speculation, the news of Jim Harbaugh to Michigan seemed a little surer on Monday. A deal between Michigan and Harbaugh is reportedly done, and according to multiple media reports, the former San Francisco 49ers head coach is expected to arrive in Ann Arbor on Monday night.
Jim Harbaugh scheduled to land in Michigan tonight. He will sign richest contract in college football history. Who’s got it better than him?
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 29, 2014
The news of Harbaugh’s signing — and also his return to college football — has made waves nationally. Perhaps, though, it has as great an impact on the SEC as it does on Michigan.
Upon Big Blue’s firing of Brady Hoke earlier this month, a pair of SEC head coaches’ names were linked to the vacancy. LSU head coach Les Miles and Mississippi State head man Dan Mullen both were reported as being candidates for the job.
Miles is no surprise. The former Michigan player has been linked to the job the past two times its been open — following Lloyd Carr’s dismissal prior to the Wolverines’ hiring of Rich Rodriguez and then again after RichRod was dismissed prior to Brady Hoke’s hiring.
Miles turned his alma mater down both times, and while there were no indications he was interested in departing Baton Rouge this go around, he again was said to be on Michigan’s radar. It’s unlikely he would’ve left LSU; he’s had too much success and is on the verge of becoming the third “lifer” in the league alongside South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and Alabama’s Nick Saban. Miles will have to leave LSU voluntarily, he won’t be fired.
Mullen is the more interesting candidate, however. Had Harbaugh declined the Michigan job or stayed in the NFL, it’s likely Wolverines athletic director Jim Hackett would’ve come to Mullen to gauge his interest. Michigan officials reportedly were high on the Mississippi State head coach from the outset.
Harbaugh’s hire has to be welcome news in Starkville. Bulldogs athletic director Scott Stricklin has been working to extend Mullen after a historic season. Mississippi State won 10 games, achieved the school’s first No. 1 ranking and earned a New Year’s Six bowl berth.
We’ll never know if Mullen was — or would have been — interested in the Michigan job. He’s maintained he’s returning to Starkville for a seventh season, and that his camp has not been contacted by any other program than Mississippi State.
Mullen’s return to the Bulldogs now seems imminent, and while Harbaugh’s decision to take the Michigan job is great for the game of college football, it’s even better for the SEC.
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
