The University of Michigan will stay with alum Jim Harbaugh as the football coach of the Wolverines program, finalizing a five-year contract extension late last week that guarantees $4 million in pay this season, with a chance to double that amount to $8 million by 2025.
There are significant bonuses in the contract, including a $1 million push for a Big Ten championship, and another $1 million if Harbaugh brings a national championship to Ann Arbor.
While Harbaugh’s 70 percent winning percentage at Michigan would be deemed successful at many other programs in the country, that is not the case at Michigan, where Harbaugh has never defeated bitter rival Ohio State, while the Wolverines remain in a 16-year Big Ten drought, last winning the conference title in 2004.
In a COVID-19 racked 2020 season, Michigan finished a disappointing 2-4, starting with an impressive win at Minnesota before struggling, particularly at Michigan Stadium, where the team was 0-3. The final three games of the Wolverines season were cancelled to a virus outbreak in the program.
