The never-ending speculation of Jim Harbaugh and current and/or future employer just keeps on churning.
Less than 48 hours before Michigan football is scheduled to take on Alabama in the Rose Bowl for a chance to play in the national championship game, news has come out that its coach has reportedly hired a new agent.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel report that Jim Harbaugh has hired football agent Don Yee as his new representation. Yee’s clientele list includes a who’s who of NFL figures, including Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, Oakland Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and, Yee’s first big client, NFL legend and former Michigan QB Tom Brady.
Harbaugh’s dalliances with the NFL have been well documented over the last couple of seasons, just as Michigan has made now three consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoff. After the 2021 season, Harbaugh interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings but was not offered the job. Harbaugh said then the overtures to the pros would be “a one-time thing.”
But after last season, Harbaugh reportedly spoke with both the Broncos and the Carolina Panthers about their head coaching openings. While there were no formal interviews, it seemed that the flirtations with the NFL had not died down.
RAINER SABIN: Despite all of Jim Harbaugh’s issues, Michigan players remain loyal to him
According to NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, Harbaugh reportedly has a 10-year, $125 million contract extension from Michigan waiting for his signature. But, Rapoport reports, the deal includes a clause that states Harbaugh cannot “entertain or accept a job for the NFL” in 2024.
The last 12 months have been eventful off the field for Harbaugh. His program just officially received a notice of allegations for Level II NCAA violations connected with recruiting during the pandemic. That investigation drew him a Level I violation because the NCAA concluded he misled investigators.
The program is also marred by the sign stealing scandal that Harbaugh was punished for by the Big Ten. In all, Harbaugh was suspended for six of the 13 games this season. Still, the Wolverines went undefeated, won the conference, is ranked No. 1 by the CFP committee and will take on the Crimson Tide on Monday in Pasadena, California.
There was no bigger storyline going into Auburn’s Sweet 16 game against Michigan than the frontcourt battle.
Both teams like to play with two traditional centers, something rarely seen in modern college basketball. Michigan’s frontcourt of Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin was slightly bigger than Auburn’s pairing of Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell.
Despite that, Auburn dominated the glass, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds, which helped the Tigers pull out a 78-65 win.
Those rebounds were especially important as Auburn’s offense struggled to find any flow or efficiency early in the game. The Tigers shot 32.4% from the field in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times.
However, Auburn outrebounded Michigan 29-17 and went into the break with nine second chance points compared to Michigan’s two. It continued in the second half has Auburn finished the game with 21 second chance points.
When Cardwell, Auburn’s starting center, was asked in the locker room after the game how Auburn gained such an advantage on the glass, his answer was as candid as it gets.
“I have no idea,” Cardwell said. “The grace of God? I don’t know.”
Cardwell said it was mentioned briefly on Auburn’s scouting report that Michigan might not be a great defensive rebounding team, but its size would still make it hard for Auburn to dominate on the glass the way it did.
Michigan came into the game ranking near the middle of Division I in defensive rebound percentage, but Auburn did a good job most of the game of keeping the Wolverines off the offensive glass too.
Michigan rebounded 26% of its misses Friday night, seven points lower than its season average.
“We have the best frontline in the country,” Broome said after the game. “We take pride in each matchup that we go against and we’re gonna bring it every night.”
Cardwell and Broome both suggested that the advantage on the glass came from Auburn’s will and effort more than anything schematic or overcomplicated.
“I would say that we wanted it more. This team, overall, we’re in the last year of college. The biggest thing we say in the team room and the locker room is we want to leave the court with no regrets,” Cardwell said. “Now, we can’t control our shots. We can’t control our free throws. We can’t control our layups. We can’t control a lot of things. But we can control our effort and energy.”
The rebounding advantage helped guarantee Auburn’s seniors at least one more game together, and the next one will be with a Final Four berth on the line.
Auburn’s Elite Eight game against Michigan State is scheduled to tip off at 4:05 p.m. Sunday. The game will be televised on CBS.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com
In this previously submitted photo, Consumers Energy employees work on power lines that supply Caberfae Peaks ski resort near Cadillac in Northern Michigan. The energy company was preparing to deploy hundreds of crews to restore power amid any outages during this weekend’s rough weather. Provided by Caberfae Peaks
ATLANTA — For a period of time this season, Michigan basketball was in contention to win the Big Ten regular season championship. And they hoisted a trophy after winning the Big Ten Tournament.
But head coach Dusty May says this team, for many reasons, has become a team with a chip on its shoulder.
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