Earlier this week, rumors were swirling that Jim Harbaugh would be the next coach of the Vikings. Then, that simply didn’t happen. Outlets are reporting that Harbaugh thought it was a done deal, but it wasn’t, and the team went with someone else. But, what’s the real story?
Harbaugh is opening up about the Vikings interview and why it didn’t work. “In a nutshell, I love Michigan,” he told Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press. “I love every player. I love every family.”
Harbaugh also admitted that if he had received an offer from the Vikings, he would have taken it. He wants to win a Super Bowl. “There was a tugging at me that I was once that close to a Super Bowl and I didn’t get it,” Harbaugh said. “Some NFL jobs came open. I was contacted by the (Minnesota) Vikings.
He added, “For better or for worse, it was something I wanted to explore. I went in thinking, ‘I’m gonna have 100 percent conviction on this, and if they (Minnesota) have 100 percent conviction on this, then it’s something I’m gonna do…. I’m an honest person. There was a large pull there (for the NFL). But I didn’t feel it was that way for both parties. And that’s it. That’s my mindset now.”
In the interview, Harbhaugh also said that his players understood his desire to get back to the NFL. “They said ‘Coach, we all want to go to the NFL, too. And whenever one of us wants to explore going to the NFL, you support us and wish us well. And if we look at it and we come back, you’re thrilled and we get right back to work.” Read the full interview here.