ESPN is reporting that Jim Harbaugh "is not expected to return to Stanford"

No word on where he is expected to go. If he's going elsewhere I would be very surprised if it was somewhere other than Michigan. The Michigan job would return him to his alma mater, where he would be greeted as the savior arriving to resurrect the glory of the Michigan program. In addition to the frustration and embarrassment created during the Rich Rodriguez tenure, Harbaugh's return would bring back one of Michigan's most popular former players, and re-establish a direct link to the Bo Schembechler era.

If he goes to the NFL he's just another NFL coach trying to juggle some high draft picks into a more successful team. The NFL is littered with former coaches who were very successful NFL coaches. Look at Pete Carroll. Sure he took the Seahawks to the playoffs. But that's more a tribute to how crappy the NFC West was. Seattle finished 7-9 and are the first division champion with a losing record in NFL history. Sure when they fly that flag atop the stadium next season it will say "NFC West Champions" and the record won't be mentioned. But still, they finished one game better than the Lions.

If Harbaugh does come to Michigan I sure hope he handles his Stanford departure better than Rick Edsell handled his exit at UConn to head to Maryland. Edsell didn't take the team flight home after the bowl game. Players started getting texts that he was jumping ship around the time they got off the plane in Connecticut. Apparently only a few players got the courtesy of a personal phone call. That's pretty douchey. Especially for a unit that had bonded tightly in the aftermath of having a player get murdered last year.

I'm not saying there's no problem with leaving for another job. UConn wouldn't hesitate to fire him. Look at how Maryland handled Ralph Friedgen. He won 6 more games than last year. Earned a bowl game and won it. Won ACC Coach of the Year, not for the first time in his run at Maryland I believe. Had the ACC Offensive Freshman of the Year in his QB, so he had some weapons to continue solid success. And got fired anyway.

Universities don't show loyalty to coaches either, but Edsell owed his players better than a few text messages, then letting the news get spread around word of mouth. Especially after he made a player announce in front of the whole team that he was leaving for the NFL.