Where will Harbaugh be in 2015

By Jeremy Kahn

If there is a question or a statement that will not go away, it is where will in the world will Jim Harbaugh be coaching in 2015.

According to multiple reports, Harbaugh could leave the San Francisco 49ers and head across the Bay to coach the Oakland Raiders, who are in the midsts of a 16-game losing streak at the present time.

Other reports have him heading back to college football, either to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he quarterbacked the Wolversines from 1983-1986, while playing for the legendary Bo Schembechler or to the University of Kansas, near his wife’s family.

It does seems bizarre that Harbaugh, who joined the 49ers after a successful stint at the University of San Diego and at Stanford would leave a team that he led to three consecutive NFC Title Games and one Super Bowl in his first three years on the job.

On the contrary, Harbaugh could return to the Raiders, a place where broke into the coaching business in 2001 and coached for two seasons as an Offensive Assistant.

After leaving the Raiders, Harbaugh went onto become the head coach at the University of San Diego, where he led the Toreros to the pinnacle of NCAA Division 1-AA and to the Championship of the Pioneer League

Harbaugh then returned to the Bay Area, when he replaced Walt Harris at Stanford University i 2007, a university that his father was the Defensive Coordinator at in the 1970s and across the street from where he went to high school.

While with the Cardinal, Harbaugh led them back to dominance, including stopping USC’s 34-game regular winning streak in 2007 and creating a rivalry with then Trojan head coach Pete Carroll.

Harbaugh led the Cardinal to a 12-1 record in the 2010 season and they won the Orange Bowl in convincing fashion over the Hokies of Virginia Tech.

Just one week after leading the Cardinal to the Orange Bowl Championship, Harbaugh was on the move again, as he was named the head coach of the 49ers, where he replaced former Chicago Bears teammate Mike Singletary.

In his first season with the 49ers, he led the team to their first NFC Western Division Championship since 2002 and to brink of the Super Bowl in his first season as a Professional Head Coach.

The following season, Harbaugh and the 49ers made it to their first Super Bowl since 1995, where he faced his brother John and despite a frantic comeback, the 49ers came just short of winning their sixth Super Bowl.

Harbaugh and Carroll renewed their rivalry from Stanford and USC respectively on the pro level, as Carroll is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, a team that put an end to the 49ers season in 2013.

Wherever Harbaugh ends in 2015, it will be fun to watch him coach.

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