Why the NCAA’s punishment of Jim Harbaugh is more severe than it seems
“You play as long as you can, you coach as long as you can, and then you die."
Jim Harbaugh exited college coaching on top of the sport, completing a postseason run that began with him handing Nick Saban a loss in Saban’s final game and then winning a national title.
In his first season back in the NFL, Harbaugh led the Chargers to the playoffs. His previous pro job, with the 49ers, featured three seasons that made the NFC Championship Game or better.
That San Francisco tenure, however, lasted just four years.
What if his L.A. tenure is no different?
On Friday, the NCAA hit Harbaugh with a 10-year show-cause order for the sign-stealing scandal that engulfed his Michigan program. The order begins in 2028. It starts that late because Harbaugh already has a four-year show-cause order he must serve as part of a COVID-era recruiting scandal.
In short, Harbaugh is essentially un-hirable at the college level until 2038, by which point he will be 74 years old.