ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – For the second year in a row, speculations of Jim Harbaugh heading to the NFL as a head coach are being stirred up. It could be Harbaugh is just shopping around to see if there is anything good out there that he likes … for instance when someone wants to trade in a new car after two years of driving it. You are ready to look and see if there is anything better than the one you have broken in.

Everyone is reporting that Harbaugh has talked to Carolina, been offered by Denver, may talk to Indianapolis … but the only for sure fact that has been reported is that he has talked to Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper.

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Fox Sports Colin Cowherd said earlier today on his show “The Herd” that had a source saying Harbaugh was offered $20 million on Monday to be the Denver Broncos head coach. Today, reported by multiple sports sources, it was said he had “talks” with Carolina but not really an interview.

Harbaugh is definitely checking out “new situations” with his travels after breaking in the Michigan program to where he wants it the past two years. Maybe, though, it’s just a part of his “Happy Mission” he is on that he talked about all year with his team.

Harbaugh is going to do what is best for Jim Harbaugh and his family. He is a family man. He is going to go to a place where he feels best fits his family and he can win. Is that Carolina? Is that Denver? Is that Indianapolis? Could it be Las Vegas and Tom Brady? We do know one thing, as he said in the press conference after winning the Big Ten Championship when asked about his program before and after CoVID ane what he changed … he said, “I don’t think I’ve changed one bit. I mean, I’m the same as I was before, am now. I think when you get to this age, you’re not going to change.”

Can Jim Harbaugh change and go back to the NFL after eight years at his alma mater? He has a 74-25 record, is 51-17 in the Big Ten, and now won back-to-back Big Ten Championships beating Ohio State both times. The monkey is off his back, for the most part, minus winning a bowl game besides the 2016 Citrus Bowl. He has won 132 games in 15 years of collegiate coaching and mentored many players.

Harbaugh is not going to change. He is still going to have his witty humor, his same demeanor of putting players first, share his mind on topics he cares about, and love the team where he is. He really has nothing to prove with his career through college, as a NFL player, collegiate coach, and NFL coach.

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One could make the argument, though, that he still does have something to prove as he searches for the one “BIG CHAMPIONSHIP” that he hasn’t won yet. He may have also left the NFL too early and he still has something left to prove. He was 44-19-1 at San Francisco playing in three NFC Championship games in four years losing to his brother in Super Bowl XLVII. Is he still searching for that lone big championship that he hasn’t won yet?

He may still be on his “Happy Mission” trying to find the right situation to win that one big game he hasn’t achieved yet. His father, Jack Harbaugh, won the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship as the head coach at Western Kentucky in 2002. As a player, he also won the small college division national championship in 1959 as a player. Brother, John Harbaugh, won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens. Even brother-in-law Tom Crean has a national championship ring that Michigan State University honored him with in 2000 because he recruited most of the team that won it. All of Harbaughs family has a “Championship Ring” of some kind, except Jim.

Harbaugh has won conference championships as head coach at San Diego and Michigan along with San Francisco. Is Jim Harbaugh now on a “Happy Mission” to get “THE RING” that his other family members have? Is this the “Happy Mission” he is on?

Carolina could be the place with talent on both sides of the ball and looking at a top 10 pick this year. Tepper is aggressive and wants to win. He wants to find a winner to lead his program. Harbaugh has proved he can lead, change an organization around, and win.

Denver is a mess. Ownership has gone through quarterbacks and head coaches like the Montezuma’s revenge goes through tourists when travel abroad. The Raiders and Colts situation is the same way with messy situations from ownership trying to always find the quick fix with money.

Harbaugh isn’t about all the money that Denver is going to throw at him to be their head coach. He isn’t about building a team from scratch in Indianapolis or Las Vegas. He wants a situation where he can lead, grow players, and win. He wants his “Happy Mission.”

Another big question is where is Michigan’s Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics Warde Manuel?  Is he trying to keep his prized coach. Warde reworked Harbaugh’s contract last year extending it to five years to the amount over $35 million dollars with great bonuses. He has an $8.05 million base salary which will bump to over $10 million this year with bonuses. Will Warde try and make Harbaugh the highest paid college coach? Michigan will have to fork over the money to do that. Alabama’s Nick Saban is making $11.8 million a year while Clemon’s Dabo Swinney is at $11.5 million and Georgia’s Kirby Smart at $11.3 million. Even Ohio State’s Ryan Day makes more than Harbaugh at $9.5 million a year in an extension signed this past July. Even that isn’t as much as Michigan State’s Mel Tucker contract extension that was a 10-year $95 million contract.

Maybe Harbaugh is shopping around because he may not feel the love from Warde after winning two Big Ten Championships, beating Ohio State two years in a row, and restoring the program back to “The Leaders of Men.” MSU’s Mel Tucker, who doesn’t have the history of coaching and playing like Harbaugh, makes more than Harbaugh for goodness sake!

Harbaugh may want to trade in his “car” that he has broken in for a fancy new one that he can go after and win that “BIG CHAMPIONSHIP.” If Michigan wants to keep “their” man, Warde is going to have to figure out how to pay Harbaugh and keep him for a very long time and look at upgrading the facilities along with figuring out how to do NIL better. A lot of what Harbaugh would not have to worry about in the NFL.

All that to say Harbaugh knows what he is doing on his “Happy Mission”. He will drive is “car” until he sees the right one to trade it in for. When he decides what to do, he will let all of us know.