NEWSLETTER
I am just about ready to close the book on Jim Harbaugh and any connections he has had to the Chicago Bears coaching job.
And thanks to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, I think I can do just that.
During a segment on The Rich Eisen Show, Pelissero was asked about chatter that had surfaced regarding the Bears turning down an opportunity to hire Harbaugh this past offseason. When given a chance to address it, Pelssero refuted the report citing reporting he had done early last season:
💻 @TomPelissero
Is there any there, there to the rumor that popped up this week that Jim Harbaugh wanted #DaBears head coaching job last offseason?#NFL #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/83DdhRHurY— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) December 6, 2024
Words from Pelissero:
“What I would say, and this is me going back in my brain, I heard last September that Jim Harbaugh had told people, ‘I think I’m going to be the Chargers head coach.’ So it was pretty apparently from very early on that was the job, if he came back to the NFL, that he would be targeting. Because of Justin Herbert, because of the marketplace, going back to California with his wife. It had a lot of different things.
Would Jim Harbaugh have had an interest in a team that he played for? I’m sure. There were a lot of different possibilities that come up over the course of time and in conversations with different people. What I can tell you, though, was from a very, very, very early stage, what I was hearing from reliable people was if Jim Harbaugh is coming back, he was going to L.A.”
What got the ball rolling on this batch of Bears-Jim Harbaugh rumors is a tweet from former Chicago sports radio host Dan McNeil, who posted: “Jim Harbaugh wanted to talk to the Bears in January, but Kevin Warren quashed it. Via a long-time team employee, Harbaugh expressed interest in the HC job. The staffer told Ryan Poles, who told Warren. The president dismissed it summarily.” McNeil ended the tweet by hashtagging the name of his new book, which is a nifty little social media engagement trick. Well played.
I don’t want to play the game where we pit the sources of two reports against each other. There are no winners in that game. Only losers. Instead, I want to use this to underscore the importance of understanding sourcing.
On one side of the tale of the tape, is a report from someone who could benefit from the engagement and attention that comes with tying the Bears and Jim Harbaugh together. I don’t knock the hustle. But I also understand that McNeil doesn’t have much to lose if his source isn’t on point. On the other side, we have reporting from a league insider who is in the trenches and has far more to lose if his sourcing is off — especially with the next NFL hiring cycle being on the horizon. Oftentimes, knowing who reports what, when they do it, and why they might be doing it helps fill out the big picture.
It is time to move on from Jim Harbaugh
Moving on and getting over
are not the same, it seems to me
‘Cause you’ve been gone, I’m growing older
But I still can’t seem to get you off my mind…
When John Mayer’s “Moving On and Getting Over” began playing in my head midway through writing this post, I knew I had to incorporate it somewhere. The lyrics above capture my feelings on the situation. Do I wish the Bears had gone after Jim Harbaugh? Sure. Especially given the hindsight that comes with knowing where this team sits with a 4-8 record after 12 games. This feels like a wasted season in some respects. And I feel as if having a different decision-maker as head coach could have had this team winning the types of games that it lost. But at some point, you have to — as John Mayer so eloquently puts it — move on and get over it.
BEARS HEAD COACH SEARCH: Ben Johnson Candidate Profile
The Chicago Bears are set to embark on finding a new head coach. Thomas Brown gets the interim duties and an opportunity to audition for the full-time gig. Behind Brown is a laundry list of candidates who have already been name-checked by NFL insiders. I imagine that list will only grow in the coming weeks. And because I don’t think the Bears will hire a new coach immediately upon the season’s end, I know I don’t have to squint to see a scenario in which more candidates pop up *AFTER* the regular season closes its doors. We are very much in the early going of this process. So I advise you, dear reader, to pace yourself.
One name that will NOT be on the list is Jim Harbaugh. I am OK with that … and you should be, too. Was not hiring Harbaugh last offseason a missed opportunity? Yes. But just because one bus passes it doesn’t mean another one isn’t coming behind it. In other words, the Bears missing out on Harbaugh doesn’t mean that there isn’t another quality head coach candidate who can do great things for this team out there waiting to be hired. Hopefully, the decision-makers at Halas Hall won’t let this opportunity slide.
