Bears Insider Just Took The Jim Harbaugh Intrigue A Step Further

Unless you've lived under a rock, Jim Harbaugh continues to have his name mentioned in NFL circles. His star is at a peak, with Michigan one win away from a national championship. Most believe the 60-year-old wants to return to the pros. It comes down to finding the right destination. The Chicago Bears have been connected to him for years. Their head coaching job has come open three different times since he left San Francisco in 2015. All three times, they never even brought him in for an interview.

Some think this year might be different. Kevin Warren, the former Big Ten commissioner, is now team president. He worked with Harbaugh for four years. While their relationship was never friendly, there was mutual respect. Harbaugh obviously played quarterback in Chicago. Mike Ditka was one of his mentors. However, there is another layer of intrigue. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune pointed it out in his latest column. The Bears have more ties to Harbaugh than people realize.

"The Bears probably feel like they can get the most complete scouting report possible on McCarthy. Jeff Shiver joined the Bears as a scout in 1987, the same year the team drafted Harbaugh in the first round. As I hear it, there might not be a scout in the country who has a better relationship with Harbaugh. On top of that, the Bears hired Sean Magee as chief of staff for Matt Eberflus in May 2022. Magee came from Michigan, where he was an associate athletic director for football."

Jim Harbaugh might be the one man who can fix the Bears.

He understands the organization better than most. He understands the mentality and what it takes to find success in Chicago. His track record is beyond reproach at this point. Harbaugh led the 49ers to a Super Bowl in 2012, coming yards away from a championship. Now he has Michigan on the doorstep of their first national title in 26 years. It isn't hard to imagine handing him this roster, two top-10 picks and almost $70 million in cap space would turn the Bears into a proper contender. Everybody knows he has a pretty sharp eye for quarterbacks. He recruited Andrew Luck to Stanford, drafted Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco, and recruited J.J. McCarthey to Michigan.

Nobody knows what will happen in the next 72 hours. Most Bears insiders still think Matt Eberflus will survive another year. He got the team from 0-4 to 7-10 despite clear problems on the offensive side of the ball. A new offensive coordinator and quarterback change might finally get them over the hump. Would Warren be satisfied with that type of half-measure? Nobody knows. Some believe he wants to take a big swing. Jim Harbaugh would certainly qualify as that. It comes down to whether the coach would be willing to work with the Bears' current setup.

Based on what Biggs indicated, that might not be an issue.