Was Michigan's loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinals Jim Harbaugh's last game as head coach of the Wolverines?
It sounds like there's a chance it was.
As has become tradition in the past few years, Harbaugh's name is being floated in NFL rumors as another college football season winds down. This time around, Harbaugh is linked to the Panthers whose owner, David Tepper, spoke with the former about the head-coaching vacancy in Carolina, per ESPN's David Newton.
According to Newton, Harbaugh's conversation with Tepper was not characterized as an interview. The Panthers reportedly won't begin the interview process until after it plays its final game of the 2022 season this Sunday.
Harbaugh, who's been coaching in Ann Arbor since 2015, has "sincere interest" in the Panthers job, per Queen City News. The 59-year-old also has some familiarity with the organization, as he played the last of his 15 NFL seasons in Carolina.
Steve Wilks has been running the show in Charlotte since Tepper and company fired Matt Rhule after Week 5. The Panthers, who were eliminated from postseason contention with their Week 17 road loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, own a 5-6 record under Wilks heading into their season finale. Wilks, now in his second stint with Carolina, reportedly is a "strong candidate" to lose the interim tag and earn the full-time job with the organization this offseason.
Harbaugh has four seasons of head-coaching experience at the NFL level, all in San Francisco. He collected a 44-19-1 record over that span and lead the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game or further in three of his four seasons.
