Keeping up with the news surrounding the Michigan football team during the past couple of weeks has been an absolute roller coaster. The Wolverines are currently being investigated by the NCAA for potentially illegally stealing signs. Connor Stalions, a low-level staffer for the Michigan football program, purchased tickets to numerous games across the country in recent years and allegedly had people film the sidelines of future Michigan opponents. Now, the NCAA is trying to figure out if the Wolverines have done anything to break the rules.

This investigation began as Michigan was working toward a new contract with head coach Jim Harbaugh that would make him the highest paid coach in the Big Ten. Those contract talks were put on hold when the investigation began, and there were even some false reports recently that the contract offer had been rescinded. Harbaugh was asked about that during his Monday press conference, and he said that it being rescinded wasn't entirely accurate. Now, it's actually looking like the extension could be finalized much sooner than we originally thought.

John Bacon, a NY Times best-selling author who has many ties to the University of Michigan, originally reported the news before the investigation began.

“I just received this from two high-ranking UM officials: ‘The Regents, Warde Manuel, and President Ono are all in alignment that Jim (Harbaugh) should have an extension within the next month that makes him the highest paid coach in the conference.'” John Bacon said in a tweet on October 9th.

While those talks were put on hold for a couple weeks, they seem to be ramping up with intensity, and it looks like Harbaugh is close to signing an extension with Michigan.

“University of Michigan President Ono, AD Manuel, and Regents are currently working to finalize Harbaugh's contract, which will make him the highest paid coach in BT.” Bacon said in a tweet on Tuesday.

This comes as a bit of a surprise because of the investigation, but this news is also very telling in terms of how Michigan feels about the situation. If the school was concerned that rules were broken by Harbaugh and something serious was coming from this, it seems unlikely that they would offer him a contract extension to make him the highest paid coach in the Big Ten.

We'll see how soon this contract gets finalized, but this feels like a big turning point in the investigation, and it's certainly good news for Michigan fans.