KCSP-AM in Kansas City is reporting that Jim Harbaugh has been offered the Kansas football coaching job and will accept it as soon as tomorrow.
2 Sources have told 610 Sports Radio that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh will fly to Lawrence following Saturday’s Heisman Trophy Ceremony to accept the deal to be the new Kansas Head Coach. He’s expected to have an annual salary of $2.7 million a year. In a statement, KU Athletic Director Lew Perkins said that the process is “ongoing” and “We have not offered the Head Coaching position to anyone.“
Kansas City ABC-TV affiliate KMBC is also reporting that Harbaugh has been offered the job.
Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has been offered a “lucrative” contract with the University of Kansas, sources tell KMBC-TV. Harbaugh is currently in New York City in preparation for Saturday’s Heisman Trophy presentation.
KMBC’s Nick Griffith reported that Harbaugh may be delaying his acceptance of the offer so he doesn’t take the spotlight away from Stanford’s Heisman Trophy candidate Toby Gerhart.
KMBC also notes, “Harbaugh has ties to the Kansas City area — his wife (Sarah) is from Belton, Mo.”
When contacted, Stanford Assistant Athletic Director Jim Young declined comment on the KMBC report. Apparently Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby was unavailable for comment.
After the KCSP and KMBC reports, Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins released this statement: “We will not comment on rumors about any potential candidates for the position of head football coach at the University of Kansas … The process is ongoing. We have not offered the head coaching position to anyone.”
For Harbaugh to consider the Kansas job, it’s reasonable to assume that the school is offering him considerably more money than what the coach is currently making at Stanford. From a football perspective, some might say that going from Stanford to the Jayhawks is a lateral move for Harbaugh.
It does appear though that the Jayhawks could be ready to win consistently thanks to the program-building by former Kansas Coach Mark Mangino the previous three seasons.
UPDATE: WHB-AM in Kansas City is now also reporting that Harbaugh has been offered the job.
7:54 pm on December 11th, 2009
no f***ing way
8:28 pm on December 11th, 2009
Why would Jim ever leave Stanford? They just built him a new $70,000 bathroom!
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/stanford-coach-harbaugh-gets-70000-bathroom-25772
10:14 pm on December 11th, 2009
Lack of a conference championship game and Stanford’s rigid requirements for recruiting have to make this a brutal job.
10:37 pm on December 11th, 2009
I think it’s a negotiating ploy w/ Stanford. They need a competing offer for Harbaugh to lay off against so they avoid looking bad by boosting football expenditures at the expense of other programs and general layoffs/ cutbacks on campus. Local news has already taken them to task on this….
Hiring Jack (interim) and then bailing 3 days later doesn’t match up well either - why bother to throw Dad under the bus for a single bowl game on 12/31?
10:40 pm on December 11th, 2009
@ FromCT - Trust me, academics at Stanford ain’t that rigorous for athletes, and Stanford has an incredibly generous tuition grant program……
10:45 pm on December 11th, 2009
And I’ve never heard any lament in the PAC-10 about a lack of a conference championship game - one seems to emerge every year all on it’s own. Yes, it’s usually got a USC component, but deservably so…. UofO v. OSU this year was a good example.
11:56 pm on December 11th, 2009
What about Turner Gill? I thought he was the man for the job?
3:56 am on December 12th, 2009
I can’t see Harbaugh leaving Stanford for KU, since he grew up in Palo Alto. However, being a Jayhawk, I would love for it to happen. He would tear up the Big 12!!. With KU’s stadium renovation & new workout facility, Jim could recruit anyone. Make it happen Lew!!
8:22 am on December 12th, 2009
So i guess when Jim accepts this job before Stanfords big bowl game we can call him classless too. Oh thats right the media hasnt been hounding Jim like he was tiger woods. I dont even get this move.. Kansas is a basketball school and in no shape to win anytime soon. If he wanted to get out of Stanford even to the point hed make a lateral move or take a step down… why not take the Cinninati job. He would have a chance to win there next year and in a few years he could move on to a job he really wants in college or the nfl.
2:43 pm on December 12th, 2009
kansas? really? guy lives in the bay area and coaches at stanford, and he wants to leave… for kansas??
jim, wait. you’ll get an offer from a more appealing school in due time
7:31 pm on December 12th, 2009
The AP as well as the San Jose Mercury News are reporting that Harbaugh is staying with Stanford University through 2014.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13984672
8:18 pm on December 12th, 2009
@Professor 1, Brooks 0. Major Pwnage. Brooks, the kid from Flyover Country, tries so hard, but he just can’t keep up with those of us from the Coasts. Maybe fellow Flyover Country non-entity Whitlock gave him this ’scoop’ - too funny.
10:29 pm on December 12th, 2009
wtf? this isnt a tiger woods story…
2:25 am on December 13th, 2009
Who gives a shit about this crap ? … the discussion right now must continue to be about Eldrick and his “transgressions” !
2:28 am on December 13th, 2009
Who gives a shit about this crap ? …. the discussion must continue to be about Eldrick and his “transgressions” !
11:55 am on December 13th, 2009
The sports press has been pretty disappointing this month.