The personal relationship between Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick runs deep, but it reportedly had nothing to do with the Minnesota Vikings passing on hiring Harbaugh as a head coach.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Kaepernick was never proposed as a quarterback on the roster in Minnesota. However, his name might have come up as a possible quarterbacks coach.
Regardless, none of that factored into the decision for the team to move in a completely different direction by hiring Kevin O’Connell as the head coach.
The thought that Harbaugh would consider bringing in Kaepernick is obviously fair game considering Urban Meyer just did the same thing for Tim Tebow last season.
Kaepernick looked good in a throwing session hosted by Harbaugh and the Wolverines during halftime of their spring game on Saturday.
Colin Kaepernick’s final pass today today at Michigan’s Maize and Blue Spring Game.
📹 @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/y9pvu3iGZC
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 2, 2022
Granted, just because Kaepernick’s name wasn’t brought up in the meeting as a possible quarterback option for the Vikings doesn’t mean Harbaugh hadn’t personally considered it.
It wouldn’t be such a leap to think he might have preferred Kaepernick as a backup over Sean Mannion. The experience factor would have been tough to pass up, along with the fact that the quarterback and coach have a history of working together with incredible success.
Kaepernick has been under center for two NFC Championship games and even a Super Bowl.
It would have been interesting to see how different a Harbaugh Vikings team would have looked, but the likelihood of inner-working conspiracies ruining the face-to-face interview is little to none.
Perhaps the reason Harbaugh wasn’t hired is for the simple fact that the Vikings truly felt like O’Connell was the better option, period.
Nothing more, nothing less.
