Surprise, surprise, opinions are split on Jim Harbaugh's extension at Michigan. Some, like 97.1 The Ticket's Mike Valenti, think it's a joke. Others think it's the right move, the only move, for both sides.
And then there's former NFL quarterback and longtime CBS Sports college football analyst Gary Danielson, who told the Stoney & Jansen Show on Monday that he's "really proud of Jim" for "swallowing a little pride" and signing up for four more years at his alma mater.
Harbaugh, who's 11-10 dating back to late 2018, was forced to take a significant paycut after ranking among the highest-paid coaches in college football for the past six years.
"I think he accepted the challenge," Danielson said. "He’s a fierce competitor. I think he knew he had to make some kind of a move and say, 'Listen, I love Michigan. I want to prove I can do the job. Give me another year. I’ve made a lot of money, I’ve got enough money, and I want to do this the right way.' And if that means swallowing a little pride and competing in the future, I think Jim is doing it the right way."
Harbaugh's base salary was sliced in half and his buyout is significantly lower should Michigan opt to fire him in the future. In some ways, his four-year extension is more like a one-year agreement, with Harbaugh under serious pressure to deliver in 2021.
"Hopefully they can recruit, turn it around next year a little bit more, take another step forward -- or take a step forward. I think all sides got what they needed in this," Danielson said. "Jim probably has said, 'If I can’t do it next year, I’ll walk away and find something else.'"
He already went searching this offseason, and the NFL wasn't interested. So now he's back at Michigan, hoping to take his team somewhere new in his seventh year at the helm.