Report: Jay Harbaugh close to being next Seahawks special teams coordinator
As expected, Jay Harbaugh is leaving Michigan football for a job in the NFL, but he did not end up following in his father's footsteps to Los Angeles.
Instead, Jay is expected to be moving further north on the West Coast. The former Michigan special teams coordinator is close to signing a deal for the same job with the Seattle Seahawks under first-year head coach and former Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
When Jim made the jump from Michigan to the L.A. Chargers shortly after winning the national championship with the Wolverines, it was expected his son would be following him to coach special teams, along with defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert.
Instead, Jay, 34, is expected to sign with the Seahawks to work under Macdonald, who was U-M's defensive coordinator in 2021 before coaching in the same role for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022. Macdonald quickly rose to one of the most coveted names in the coaching cycle, along with the Lions' Ben Johnson, who ended up staying put.
It will be the second stint in the NFL for Jay, who previously worked for his uncle John from 2012-2014 as an assistant for the Ravens, including as a quality control coach in 2014. He left the NFL to work for his father at Michigan, and spent nine seasons on staff, making him the longest-tenured Michigan assistant during the past season.
While at Michigan, Jay served in plenty of roles but always had a hand in coaching the special teams unit. Since 2020, Jay has been Michigan's special teams coordinator while also serving as the position coach for running backs (2019-20), tight ends (2021) and safeties (2022-23).
Before he was the special teams coordinator, he served as the assistant special teams coach while also helping with running backs (2015-16) and tight ends (2017-18).
Michigan has already named a replacement at special teams coordinator, elevating special teams analyst J.B. Brown to the position of coordinator on Friday. It was another internal hire for new head coach Sherrone Moore as he pieces together his coaching staff for the next era of U-M football. Brown's appointment received praise from his predecessor, who is now off to the big leagues. Jay also praised the hiring of Kirk Campbell as offensive coordinator and Grant Newsome as offensive line coach.