Jim Harbaugh's Future Appears Set

Multiple outlets are reporting on Jim Harbaugh's future.

Per several reputable outlets, Jim Harbaugh is going to be the next head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

If you've been following along here or at The Winged Helmet on Facebook, this shouldn't come as a surprise to you. The team might be a surprise, but Harbaugh's decision to accept an NFL position certainly is not. We have maintained for the better part of a month that if offered, Harbaugh would take a job in the NFL. It now seems as if we're inside of 24 hours of that happening.

I always thought that a return to Ann Arbor was very possible and perhaps even probable since it was the path of least resistance and because that was the only thing in Harbaugh's control, but we've also been very honest in saying that he wanted to go back to the NFL more than he wanted to return to Michigan. Accepting a job with the Minnesota Vikings will certainly support that idea.

There were nine NFL jobs open this offseason and if asked to rank them in terms of being a good fit for Jim Harbaugh, that list would've looked like this:

1. Las Vegas Raiders
2. Miami Dolphins
3. Chicago Bears
4. New York Giants
5. Denver Broncos
6. New Orleans Saints
7. Minnesota Vikings
8. Houston Texans
9. Jacksonville Jaguars

That's how I would've ranked them at the beginning of carousel season. Of course, as interviews were requested and general managers started getting hired, the list would've shifted a bit, the list would've changed. Regardless, Minnesota never seemed very likely.

Then Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was hired. Harbaugh was finishing up his tenure in San Francisco when Adofo-Mensah first arrived and even though the final year or two of Harbaugh's time in San Fran were rocky, the interactions between those two, apparently were not. Quirky or not, Harbaugh took the Niners to three NFC title games and a Super Bowl. Adofo-Mensah obviously never forgot that.

There hasn't been an official announcement yet, but as soon as it was reported that Harbaugh would be flown out to Minnesota for a formal interview after doing a Zoom call with the Vikings, it seemed like a done deal. According to many, it pretty much is.