Jim Harbaugh Interviewing with Vikings Injects Sizzle into Search for HC
Dustin Baker
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On Saturday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings quest for a new head coach was pumped full of adrenaline.
News broke that Jim Harbaugh, collegiate head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, was on the Vikings radar. And that brief rumor was followed by a confirmation of interview, which reportedly occurred on Saturday evening.
At least tentatively, the Vikings are interested in Harbaugh, and Harbaugh is interested in the Vikings.
Harbaugh coached in the pros before Michigan, guiding the San Francisco 49ers to three consecutive NFC Championships with a cumulative 44-19 (.695) record. Harbaugh owns the fifth-best winning percentage in NFL history among all head coaches. Harbaugh’s 49ers even visited the Super Bowl in 2012, losing to the Joe Flacco-led Baltimore Ravens, 34-31. Former Vikings Bryant McKinnie and Matt Birk won a Super Bowl with the Ravens that season.
After an 8-8 year in 2014, Harbaugh bolted to Michigan, compiling a 61-24 (.717) win-loss mark to date. Harbaugh has directed the enterprise in Ann Arbor for seven years.
But now, a new general manager in Minnesota, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, has loose ties to Harbaugh. The two crossed paths in San Francisco for two seasons in 2013 and 2014. Adofo-Mensah will make the final decision on the Vikings next head coach. He landed an interview with Harbaugh, an achievement in a standalone right.
Harbaugh’s 49ers teams were known for stifling defense, so if the Vikings upped with Harbaugh this time around, the “feel” would be similar to the Zimmer days. Of course, Minnesota’s defense amid the last two seasons wasn’t impressive, but Harbaugh’s teams consistently reside on a bedrock of defense.
However, Harbaugh is a quarterback by trade. He spent 14 seasons in the NFL at quarterback with four different franchises. Most of his career was linked with Chicago Bears from 1987 to 1993.
Harbaugh would assuredly change the culture in Minnesota — he does that in virtually every new place — but his reputation isn’t quite the anti-Zimmer folks theorized for the next skipper. The Wolverines coach is coined as hard-working, dedicated, obsessive, in-your-face, and even a little bit overkill. Somehow, though, his teams always win — and that’s probably what fascinates Adofo-Mensah and the Wilfs.
The last time Harbaugh coached a professional football game, Mike Zimmer was in his rookie season as a head coach.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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