Jim Harbaugh a Candidate for Job Openings
By Joe Barnes
According to Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, is a candidate for both the Bills and Raiders head coaching jobs. Right now Jim, the former Ravens QB, is the head coach at Stanford. He had been linked to Notre Dame near the end of the college football season, but these are very new and slightly surprising rumors. Here’s the post in its entirety:
"There has been some speculation that the Buffalo Bills (who don’t currently have a head coach) and the Oakland Raiders (who currently do) could be interested in hiring Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.A league source tells us that it’s more than speculation; the brother of Ravens coach John Harbaugh is, we’re told, a “stealth” candidate for both jobs.Secrecy is critical (oops) because Jim Harbaugh currently is in the midst of recruiting season. If Harbaugh acknowledges that he’s a candidate for any job other than the one he has, his recruits will scatter like members of the Cardinal band in the end zone of a game that isn’t yet over.For any college coach plotting a move, the news needs to come swiftly or not at all, and Harbaugh will have to use the “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach” routine until, you know, he ultimately becomes the Alabama coach.(Then again, there’s a chance that Jim Harbaugh is already the Baltimore coach.)In NFL coaching circles, neither the Bills job nor the Raiders job is regarded as incredibly attractive. But the reality is that there are only 32 jobs in NFL head-coaching circles, and Jim Harbaugh simply doesn’t strike us as a guy who is destined to spend his career as a college head coach. With his brother making it to the playoffs twice in his first two seasons with the Ravens, the interest in the Harbaugh who was a pretty good pro quarterback only will increase."
It would be fun to see Jim and John oppose each other on opposite sidelines next season, but there are so many coaching names being thrown around, nobody knows what to think. Tom Cable still has his contract, and Harbaugh is being linked to the Raiders. Black Monday has come and passed, but the best of this season’s coaching carousel seems yet to come.