With each disappointing result and each disappointing season, it feels more like Jim Harbaugh's time at Michigan is coming to an end.
He hit the low point of his six-year tenure last weekend with a shocking (or maybe not-so-shocking) loss to Michigan State. And his contract is set to expire at the end of next season, making him the only head coach of a Power Five school with less than two years remaining on his deal.
Harbaugh instantly revived the Michigan program when he arrived in 2015, but his momentum has stalled. With a 1-1 record through two games and matchups ahead with No. 13 Indiana, No. 10 Wisconsin, Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State, the Wolverines could be looking at a .500 season.
And then what?
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While some critics think Harbaugh might leave for the NFL, Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt thinks he'll either get over the hump at Michigan or walk away from coaching completely.
"A lot of the hate that Harbaugh gets is deserved because a lot of people think, and his contract suggests, that they should be playing at the very top end of college football, the Ohio State end, the Alabama end. And they're just not that type of program," Klatt said Wednesday on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. "If you're just looking for Michigan to get back to doing Michigan things, they're actually doing that (based on) their history."
"I don't know how it's going to end there," Klatt went on. "I don’t think they (would fire him), but I wouldn't be shocked if he stepped away. I would not be surprised at all if in a matter of a few years, Jim Harbaugh is not coaching anywhere and driving around the country in an RV. And I'm not joking, I'm not being sarcastic there. I'm dead serious. I don't think that -- if it's not going to work at Michigan, Jim's not going to go anywhere else. He's going to drive around the country in an RV -- again, not sarcastic."
Harbaugh was the slated to make $8 million this season prior to taking a COVID-19 pay cut, the fourth highest-paid salary among his peers. Each of the three coaches above him -- Alabama's Nick Saban, LSU's Ed Orgeron and Clemson's Dabo Swinney -- has won a national championship in the past three seasons.
Harbaugh has yet to finish higher than third in the Big Ten East.