Jim Harbaugh appears to have legitimate interest in returning to the NFL, but there is at least one team with a head coaching vacancy that reportedly does not view him as a candidate.
The Carolina Panthers are not pursuing Harbaugh, according to a report from Mike Sando of The Athletic.
Harbaugh was first linked to the Panthers when word surfaced earlier this month that he had a conversation with team owner David Tepper. However, it was specified that the conversation was not a job interview.
Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports then reported on Sunday that Harbaugh had a recent phone conversation with Tepper, but it was one that the Michigan coach initiated. Sources told Jones that Harbaugh’s representatives had been calling Tepper “with some regularity in recent weeks.”
Harbaugh issued a statement last week in which he reaffirmed his allegiance to Michigan. That was before Michigan received official word that Harbaugh and the program are under investigation by the NCAA and that the coach could potentially face a suspension.
Harbaugh is scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos at some point in the near future. People who are familiar with his thinking told Sando that Harbaugh simply wants back in the NFL.
“He will flat go to Denver,” one former Harbaugh associate said. “He is not thinking about any of that stuff. He will just go take it, in my opinion. He thought he was going to get the Vikings job last year, and it didn’t happen.”
While it is unclear how the NCAA violations will play out, signs point to Harbaugh wanting out of Michigan. It remains to be seen if an NFL team will offer him a job.
