What a crazy past 24 hours it's been for the Las Vegas Raiders organization. After an embarrassing display on national television on Monday night, the Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler late Tuesday night, followed by the departure of offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi.
As the dust settles on some truly franchise-altering changes, sportsbooks are releasing odds for the next Raiders head coach. There are plenty of intriguing candidates that could be in the running for the job. Perhaps none are more satisfying to think about than Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh.
The former San Francisco 49ers head coach is the favorite to land the Raiders job, coming in at +500 odds according to BetOnline. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is second at +700 and Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith has +800 odds.
Harbaugh is currently in his ninth season at Michigan and each year there seem to be rumors of him leaving for the NFL. Those rumors may never be louder than this time around as the program Harbaugh has guided for nearly a decade goes through an investigation involving sign-stealing.
Even if Harbaugh wasn’t active in violating the rules and was unaware of it, he can still be the one who gets the boot, or at least the biggest one of all. It remains to be seen how long this investigation will take and when/how it will affect Harbugh's coaching future.
Can Raiders pry Harbaugh from college?
It's one thing for the Raiders to be interested in Harbaugh. It's another when it comes to his interest in the team. It may not be as easy as sitting him down and giving him an offer after one interview, no matter how much Las Vegas wants it to be.
Barring something unforeseen before the season, Harbaugh will likely finish out the year leading Michigan to what he and the fans hope is at the very least a third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance. After that who knows what will happen, but a move to the NFL may not be as simple as putting pen to paper.
The Raiders will want to make a splash hire, one they thought they had when they chose Jon Gruden as their head coach amid their impending move to Las Vegas. Jim Harbaugh would certainly be a splash and what a pairing he and Vegas would make.
At the same time, Michigan is expected to try and extend Harbaugh and convince him to stay, something they've had to do multiple times over the last couple of years with the NFL calling. Will the Raiders be willing to outbid Michigan, or vice versa?
It will be a fascinating development as the rest of the NFL and college football seasons roll on, as well as the Michigan investigation and any potential conversations the Raiders have about their next GM and head coach.
Jim Harbaugh last coached in the NFL in 2014 with the 49ers. He has a 44-19-1 coaching record in the NFL with five playoff wins.
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