DETROIT — There has been plenty of smoke and speculation in recent days regarding the contract future of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, in his sixth year with the program, but it's unclear exactly when the white smoke might puff from the roof of the athletic department with a decision.
Harbaugh has one year remaining on his contract, which expires after the 2021 season. His team is 2-4 this fall and on Tuesday canceled the annual rivalry game against Ohio State because of a COVID-19 outbreak on the team.
During a video conference with reporters Tuesday to discuss the decision not to play at Ohio State on Saturday, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said he and Harbaugh, who also participated in the news conference, will have formal discussions after the season.
"This is a time where we're gonna focus on this pandemic," Manuel said during the news conference. "Jim and I will meet, as we have said, at the end of the year to discuss the program and where we're gonna go and all those different things. How rumors get started about things before Jim and I sit down and have a conversation, I'm not gonna get into. That's not for me to try to track down, but that's where that is and that's where we'll be at the end of the season."
Harbaugh said this was not the time to discuss his contract publicly.
"Warde and I for months have long agreed that we'll talk about the extension at the end of the season," Harbaugh said.
So when technically is the end of the season? What can be called the regular season during this abbreviated Big Ten-only fall technically would end with the Ohio State game that's no longer happening. There is a "champions week" game the weekend of Dec. 18, a seeded divisional crossover matchup. The Big Ten title game is Dec. 19.
Manuel said he will formally meet with Harbaugh after that game, which falls just days after the early recruiting signing period Dec. 16.
'We are hopeful, as Jim said, that we can play it as scheduled," Manuel said. "We'll get through the next few days and continue to monitor the situation with COVID on our team and quarantines and all the things that we're dealing with now that have led us to that point.
"So what I mean by the end of our season is the end of our season, and that is one more game currently scheduled. And that's where the conversation, at some point shortly after the season ends, will begin."
By no means, Manuel said, is this different than any year.
"And just to clarify, Jim and I have always talked at the end of the season. Always," Manuel said. "So this is not a, 'Well we're making this up this year.' We sit down, we talk, sometimes we'll talk in November and just in general, to get a sense. And we've had a lot of conversations in between. It's not like we don't talk. Sometimes daily, depending on the issues and sometimes weekly.
"I don't want to make anybody feel or think that Jim and I have just been sitting around just waiting and not talking to each other about things. We have had a lot to talk about. And my coaches across the board and Jim has been a leader and phenomenal in his effort with his team. He is co-chairing along with (softball coach Carol Hutchins) Hutch our COVID coaches. He has led that, he has been there, he is committed to his team, he is committed to this department and he is committed to this university. So from my standpoint, he has been doing everything at a high level, including his efforts with the team.
"From that perspective, I just don't want people to get this sense that we're just sitting around and nobody's talking to each other and we're waiting and waiting. That is the furthest thing from the truth. We've had a lot to do and a lot of other things to talk about."
There was a sourced report Monday night from respected local journalist John Bacon, who said Harbaugh has been offered a new contract with a lower base salary and a buyout, including considerable incentives. This came a day after Pro Football Talk reported Harbaugh is believed to be "eyeing a return to the NFL." There also has been speculation of a three-year extension that's already on the table.
Harbaugh, who returned to his alma mater where he was a quarterback, will make more than $8 million in his final year of his Michigan contract.
His contract extension has been a topic much of this year. During a video conference with reporters in the summer, Harbaugh said he and Manuel had discussed his contract extension in February but that was shelved because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down all on-campus activities in mid-March.
A few months ago when the subject was raised, Harbaugh said there have been "bigger fish to fry." Manuel has estimated the athletic department will take an $80 million hit because of the pandemic.
The upcoming early signing day and recruiting going forward make his contract situation more pressing, however, and opens Michigan to negative recruiting.
"You know what's not unique in college athletics? Negative recruiting," Manuel said. "That's not unique. Negative recruiting occurs all the time. All the time. And so I'll let it at that."
Harbaugh chimed in one last time to essentially say he's not chiming in.
"We said it a while ago — this really wasn't the forum to talk about that," Harbaugh said. "And we did tell you that we're gonna talk about it at the end of the season. So I think we've plowed that ground pretty thoroughly."
