The Harbaugh Home Run Swing
K. Joudry
|
Signing Jim Harbaugh would be a home run swing by the Vikings.
Over the weekend, the news emerged that the Vikings were interested in bringing in Michigan’s head coach for an interview. It’s a fascinating option for Minnesota.
The sense one gets is that he’s unusually passionate about football. His approach, with all its strengths and weaknesses, has led to a fair bit of success, suggesting there are more strengths. As Josh Frey noted over the weekend, he lead Michigan to a conference championship this season.
He also has a stellar record from his time in San Francisco. He was their head coach from 2011-14, finishing with a 44-19-1 record. That’s a .695 winning percentage.
Of course, Harbaugh isn’t the only coach being considered:
And check out this update:
The Vikings, quite evidently, remain committed to their process, one that involves plenty of due diligence. At the very end of the above clip, Rapoport is sure to sneak in a brief mention of Harbaugh.
I’d be lying if I said I had a firm idea of how this will all play out. What I can say is that the Vikings’ desire to interview him is further evidence that the team wants to get back into contention soon. Here is how Josh put it: “First of all, a Jim Harbaugh hire would not indicate that the Vikings are looking for a rebuild. Jim Harbaugh is the definition of an ‘all-in now’ coach.”
Moreover, it’s perhaps worth noting that there is a connection between Harbaugh and Adofo-Mensah, as PFT notes: “Regardless, the Vikings are thinking about it. And they may do it. New G.M. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent two years with Harbaugh in San Francisco. Clearly, Harbaugh is at or near the top of Adofo-Mensah’s list of coaches with whom he’d want to work. That alone is reason enough for the Vikings to regard Harbaugh as a viable candidate to replace Mike Zimmer.”
PFT‘s Mike Florio has previously argued that hiring an offensive coach makes more sense because it offers a team the greatest chance at stability. Rock star offensive coordinators regularly get hired, so it can be challenging to find continuity on offense (see Stefanski, Kevin).
For this reason, I’ve been leaning offense. Bringing in Harbaugh would fulfill this preference for the offense, doing so in a way that suggests the Vikings are gearing up for a playoff push in the 2022 season.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”947730″ player=”26281″ title=”WATCH%203%20moves%20the%20Denver%20Broncos%20must%20make%20after%20hiring%20Nathaniel%20Hackett” duration=”107″ description=”The Denver Broncos took care of their biggest offseason priority, hiring Nathaniel Hackett away from the Green Bay Packers to be their next head coach. We look at three moves the Broncos must make this offseason after hiring Hackett to return to relevance around the NFL.” uploaddate=”2022-01-28″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/snapshot/947691_s_1643403688536.png” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/947691/947691.m3u8″]