Poached by Chargers With $80M Contract, Jim Harbaugh Was Betrayed by His “Advocate” After Conveying His Intentions to Stay at Michigan

The Chargers struck Jim Harbaugh when the iron was still hot. Harbaugh needed a way out of Michigan and the Chargers offered him a ready-made one worth $80 million. The biggest mystery during his switch from CFB to the pro league remained his reason for leaving the team just two weeks after leading them to a National Championship. Rumors of Warde Manuel, the Athletic Director at Michigan, not supporting Jim Harbaugh enough to navigate through the sign-stealing charges against him were there. The backlash from the Maize and Blue fandom was also there. Just an official statement was not there. Now it is.

Harbaugh’s heart was still with Michigan. He wanted to stay there. All that he needed was some level of support from athletic director Warde Manuel, which apparently he had to mull over a lot. Speaking to a long-time confidant about his predicament, Harbaugh “unloaded” his concerns that Manuel was “not the advocate he needed in his corner,” specifically in Michigan’s Board of Regents, per the soon-to-be-released creation of Armen Keteyian and John Talty. Set to be published on August 27, the creation of Keteyian and Talty, ‘The Price: What It Takes to Win in The College Football’s Era of Chaos‘ has peeled back the layers of Harbaugh’s plight.

The sign-stealing allegations on him had already left him at an unthinkable stage. A three-game suspension when their team was the most dominating power in the NCAA with a blemish-free record. The then interim head coach Sherrone Moore handled things pretty well, continuing their taintless streak to 15-0, leading them to the Rose Bowl. From there, Jim Harbaugh took over as his suspension was just for the regular season games. They won the National Championship, making their comeback one of the most blazing ones in the NCAA.

Per Dan Wetzel from Yahoo Sports, in January, Jim Harbaugh was “seeking language that would grant him immunity from termination from any finding or sanction that could arise from multiple current NCAA investigations into the football program.” However, the “university lawyers had pressed for termination language that would protect the school in the event of an unforeseen turn in the sign-stealing investigation.” The clause alone was enough to put Harbaugh off.

So, it was not the five-year, $80 million contract, paying him about $16 million per annum alone that propelled Jim Harbaugh to make the move, clearly. Harbaugh was a Michigan Man through and through. It was the estrangement from Michigan and the Big Ten officials, per the claims.

Jim Harbaugh on Tony Pettiti

Jim Harbaugh wasn’t too pleased with the way Tony Pettiti, the commissioner of the Big Ten, was treating him. Per the book, Harbaugh has “raged against” Pettiti to his friend Todd Anson during his vacation on the Colorado island. According to CBS Sports’s Tatly, Harbaugh was specifically frustrated when Petitti declined to show up for a meeting they had scheduled.

Things did not go as Harbaugh wanted them to, leading to the turn of events. Looking at the brighter side, Jim Harbaugh can now finally work on the Super Bowl dream he had kept wrapped up in a corner of his heart after switching to CFB. He even interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2022, signaling his thinking about the move. The Chargers have now given him the perfect chance to go get that Super Bowl ring.