Source: Vikings talk with Jim Harbaugh
MINNEAPOLIS — Jim Harbaugh has taken a step toward a potential return to the NFL.
The University of Michigan football coach and the Minnesota Vikings had an exploratory conversation about the team’s head coaching vacancy Saturday, a person with knowledge of the process told The Associated Press.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team was not publicizing the interview, said both sides were gauging interest. The Vikings made the formal request earlier in the week to speak with him.
A message seeking comment was left with Harbaugh, whose seventh season at Michigan ended last month with the Wolverines losing to eventual national champion Georgia in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl.
The Vikings hired former Cleveland Browns vice president of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as general manager during the week, and they’re still searching for a coach.
The 58-year-old Harbaugh could be a good fit with Adofo-Mensah, who is a first-time GM at age 40. Adofo-Mensah started working in the research and development department with the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, when Harbaugh was in his third of four seasons coaching the team.
Might the Wolverines’ khaki-wearing coach be ready to leave his alma mater?
Harbaugh is 61-24 at Michigan, and he led the program to a win over rival Ohio State last season for the first time under his guidance. The Wolverines went on to end a school-record, 17-year streak without a Big Ten championship and made the four-team playoff, which debuted in the 2014 season, for the first time.
The former NFL quarterback was 44-19-1 as San Francisco’s coach from 2011-14 and 5-3 in the playoffs, helping the 49ers reach the Super Bowl to cap the 2012 season. They lost to the Baltimore Ravens, who were coached by his brother, John Harbaugh.
A little more than a year ago, Michigan gave Harbaugh a new, five-year contract that cut his guaranteed compensation and gave him an opportunity to make up for the financial loss with performance bonuses. Harbaugh bounced back to produce his best season with 12 wins.