Jim Harbaugh grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and ended up staying home in college to play quarterback for the Michigan football team. He was a legendary Wolverines player, and after his time with Michigan, he had a solid career as a QB in the NFL. When his playing days were over in the NFL, he wasn't ready to leave the game of football, and he began his coaching career, and he helped turn college programs like San Diego and Stanford around. He is also one of a few coaches that has been able to find success in both college and the NFL. So, when the Michigan football program was going through a rough patch, Harbaugh returned to Ann Arbor to get the Wolverines back to where they belong.

Michigan was instantly a much better team when Jim Harbaugh arrived, but it took a little while for Harbaugh to get Wolverines completely over the hump. His first season as the head coach of Michigan was in 2015, and the Wolverines didn't beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff until 2021. It took some time, but Michigan did eventually get there, and Harbaugh is now loved among the fan base. However, his time in Ann Arbor hasn't been completely smooth.

Could Jim Harbaugh make a return to the NFL?

Given Jim Harbaugh's success coaching in the NFL, there are rumors every single season that he is going to make a return to the pros. The rumors typically don't get a lot of traction, but after the 2021 season, it actually did look like Harbaugh was going to leave for a little bit. However, that didn't end up being the case, and he returned for the 2022 season and didn't give the NFL much of a thought after that big year. Still, the chatter about Harbaugh to the NFL will never die.

It's not like Jim Harbaugh doesn't like coaching the Michigan football team and he wants to leave because of that. In fact, most people believe that it's because of his hatred for the NCAA. Harbaugh has publicly criticized the way that the NCAA operates multiples times, and it's not a secret that he isn't a fan of them. Because of that public ridicule, it's not much of secret that the NCAA doesn't like Harbaugh, either.

Since this past offseason, the Michigan football program has been involved with two NCAA investigations. The first one involved some minor recruiting violations that resulted in the university issuing a self-imposed three-game suspension for Harbaugh. He was not on the sidelines for the Wolverines in their first three games this season. The second investigation just began earlier this week. A couple of Big Ten teams complained that the Wolverines knew their signs when they played against Michigan, and the NCAA is now investigating whether or not the Wolverines were figuring out the signs in a legal or illegal way.

Could this new investigation potentially push Jim Harbaugh to the NFL? He is already not a fan of the NCAA, and if Michigan did nothing wrong and still had to deal with an investigation regarding sign-stealing (which happens legally in a lot of college football games), he's not going to be happy. This certainly could end up being another thing that the NCAA does that makes Harbaugh want to leave.

Another thing to consider is what will happen if the NCAA actually does prove that Michigan was breaking the rules. Right now, there is no proof of anything and the whole thing stemmed from teams believing that the Wolverines knew their signs, but it could've been done in a completely legal way, we simply don't know yet. However, if Michigan was breaking the rules, the punishment could be hefty. That could also result in Harbaugh either leaving on his own, or who knows, maybe he could lose his job because of it. Either way, there are scenarios from either result of the investigation that could push Harbaugh away.

At the end of the day, Harbaugh didn't have to deal with this kind of stuff in the NFL, and that's why he has given the pros some thought in recent years. It is important to note that after the 2021 season when Harbaugh decided to stay, he said that he was fully committed to the Michigan football program, and he said that he was done giving the NFL attention.

We still don't know much about this investigation, but more information is sure to come out soon.