Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is scheduled to fly to Minnesota on Wednesday to interview for the vacant head coaching job with the Vikings, the Free Press confirmed Monday night.
Harbaugh, coming off his best year in seven seasons as Michigan head coach, has substantial experience as an NFL coach, leading the San Francisco 49ers to three NFC championship games and one Super Bowl from 2011-2014.
Wednesday is national signing day for the class of 2022 recruiting class, though the 23-man class for Michigan signed in December.
The Vikings fired head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman at the end of the regular season and hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who got his start in the NFL in the research and development department with the 49ers in 2013.
On Saturday, the Vikings and Harbaugh had “exploratory conversations” about the head coach vacancy.
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In seven seasons in Ann Arbor, the former star quarterback at Michigan is 61-24 (42-17 Big Ten). Though in his first six seasons, he was 0-5 against Ohio State and had not won a conference championship. That changed in 2021, as the Wolverines, led by a turnover-adverse offense and a new defense, went 12-2, defeated the Buckeyes, won the Big Ten championship game and made the College Football Playoff for the first time.
But before last season, Harbaugh signed a contract extension that halved his base pay from his initial lucrative deal. Harbaugh’s buyout out of his current deal, now in Year 2, is $1,500,000.
The 2022 season already promised significant change for Michigan. The Wolverines are losing senior Aidan Hutchinson and juniors David Ojabo and Daxton Hill, all likely first-round draft picks along with defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who is taking the same job with the Baltimore Ravens.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh to interview with Vikings
Read more: https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-footballs-jim-harbaugh-interview-032902879.html?src=rss
