Report: Vikings to interview Jim Harbaugh for head coaching vacancy

A brand new name has just emerged in the Minnesota Vikings’ search for a new head coach and this one. . .well, this one is big.

Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Vikings are interviewing former NFL head coach and current Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh for their head coaching vacancy.

Harbaugh had a relatively successful career as an NFL quarterback after being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft. He played for six teams, most notably the Bears and the Indianapolis Colts, and retired from the NFL after the 2001 season.

Harbaugh then got into the coaching ranks at the University of San Diego (not to be confused with San Diego State), before accepting the head coaching job at Stanford University. He was at Stanford for four seasons, winning the Woody Hayes Coach of the Year Award in 2010.

It was then that he jumped to the National Football League, taking the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers during the 2011 offseason. Harbaugh led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in each of his first three seasons as the Niners’ head coach, and got them to the Super Bowl during the 2012 season, though they ultimately lost to the Baltimore Ravens. The 49ers then dismissed Harbaugh after an 8-8 season in 2014. He finished his NFL coaching career. . .at least, as it stands right now. . .with a record of 44-19-1 in the regular season and a 5-3 mark in the post-season.

From there, Harbaugh accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. He just completed his seventh season with the Wolverines, a season that saw them make the College Football Playoff for the first time. The Wolverines lost in the Orange Bowl to the eventual national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. In his seven seasons in Ann Arbor, he has compiled a record of 61-24.

I’m not sure how serious the overtures the Vikings are making to Harbaugh are, but the fact that they had not spoken to him prior to the hiring of new General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah but are speaking to him now kind of says that the new GM has at least a little bit of interest. It’s worth noting that Harbaugh and Adofo-Mensah did cross paths in San Francisco during Harbaugh’s final two years there when Adofo-Mensah was just getting started with the organization.

This could be a big one, folks. What do you think?