What will Harbaugh do next?

HOUSTON (WOOD) — The son of University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh says his dad is just one of those people that is “totally dialed in” on the task at hand. Monday night, that task is to beat Washington.

Everyone’s asking the question: What will Harbaugh do next? And they won’t stop until he’s either standing on Michigan’s sideline next season or back in the NFL.

But if you think Harbaugh is thinking about the NFL now, you don’t know Harbaugh. Certainly not as well as his son Jay does.

“Anyone who knows how he operates knows, he could be putting his chickens back in the coop, he’s totally dialed in on what he’s doing. The notion he would be doing something else, he wouldn’t entertain it,” said Jay Harbaugh, Michigan assistant coach and son of the head coach.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that NFL teams are looking at Jim Harbaugh. He went 49-22-1 with the 49ers and led them to the Super Bowl. Now his Michigan team is playing for a national championship.

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As former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler famously said, those who stay will be champions. A win Monday night would make Jim Harbaugh and Team 144 champions.

“Now the question is, where does this fit in his destiny? For me, I’d love to see him stay at Michigan. That’s really what it’s all about for me,” said Jim Hackett, the former interim director of athletics at the University of Michigan and former president and CEO of Ford Motor Company. “But I also see that if he goes to the pros, this is a guy that’s a future Hall of Famer.  So, can you imagine his life in terms of a kind of a narrative where he finishes his career one day and he’s put in (the Pro Football Hall of Fame in) Canton (Ohio)?”

On the flip side, Jim Harbaugh is connected to this team. He openly gushes about quarterback JJ McCarthy, calling him the greatest Michigan quarterback in history.

“I get a little uncomfortable with every compliment I get,” said McCarthy.

You’d think that type of praise might create some jealousy among teammates, but McCarthy isn’t the only one he’s raving about. His players feel the love.

“He literally tells us he loves us every day. It’s beautiful because want to play for a coach like that. You want to fight for a coach like that,” running back Donovan Edwards said.

Part of Michigan vs. Everybody is having their coaches’ back, just like he has theirs.

To them, Jim Harbaugh has become “a mixture of father-son,” Edwards said. “Teammate to teammate. He really provides every aspect of a great leader that I want to follow. And that relationship is a big part of it.”

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That’s a perspective Jay Harbaugh appreciates. He hears the negative narrative so often, he says he’s numb to it. But to see the players he coaches look to his father as a father figure is special.

“It’s pretty cool. I’m thankful to be part of this team and to be around him. I think he’s the best in the world at what he does and to be able to learn from and be around him and be able to do what we love together is a really great thing.”

Monday is game day. As Jay said, Jim Harbaugh will only have one thing on his mind — finding a way to beat Washington. He’ll be surrounded by his family and his football family. He’ll be exactly where he wants to be.

But win or lose, tomorrow that narrative will change, again. And not long after, he’ll either sign the contract extension Michigan has presented him or head back to the NFL and chase a Lombardi trophy.

We’ll know the answer soon enough, but not today.

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