The Latest on Michigan Football and Jim Harbaugh

The Michigan Football and Jim Harbaugh saga just seems to get more intriguing as the days go by. Here is the latest on what is happening…

• According to the San Diego Tribune by way of the Detroit News, former Michigan Football assistant and current San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke hasn’t signed an extension with the Aztecs and it remains on the table. It is believed that Hoke’s buyout from San Diego State is anywhere from $1.5 million to $1 million dollars. Hoke has also expressed a big interest in returning to Michigan as their head coach.

• According to various sources a dark horse to become the next football coach of Michigan is TCU’s Gary Patterson. Patterson did appear  on a Dallas Radio Station where he was asked about the Michigan job and here is what he had to say; “No, I haven’t been contacted,” Patterson told 105.3-The Fan. “I’ve got a great job here. “TCU has a chance to be maybe the No. 2 or No. 1 team (next season), depending on what poll, in the nation. Maybe we are one of those people (elite programs) now. That’s what I’ve been trying to build the program to get to. Michigan has a great tradition and is a great university. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

• Various sources have also said that Michigan will once again try to pursue former Michigan assistant Les Miles who is currently the head coach at LSU. Like Patterson however Miles said that Michigan hasn’t contacted him and that he would only talk about LSU and their upcoming Cotton Bowl match up against Texas A&M.

• Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald also emerged as a possible candidate for Michigan. According to ESPN.com by way of the Detroit News Michigan has “expressed interest” in Fitzgerald however the Chicago Sun-Times said that Fitzgerald has no interest in leaving his alma mater.

Now onto Jim Harbaugh who is the most sought after head coach I’ve ever seen in both the NCAA and NFL. Here is the latest on him…

• Harbaugh reportedly met with 49ers official on Wednesday but it is not known if he was offered a contract.

• The big news on Thursday was that Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross would be meeting with Harbaugh at an undisclosed location in San Francisco. Now Steve Ross is a Michigan graduate and it has been said that Ross had dialogue with Michigan asking them if they were going to pursue Harbaugh themselves. Ross apparently did this because he didn’t want to compete with alma mater in getting Harbaugh. What’s interesting about that is Ross still met with Harbaugh Thursday so you can draw your own conclusions from that. Later Thursday afternoon ESPN was reporting that a deal with agreed to in principle by Harbaugh and the Miami Dolphins on a contract worth between $6.8 and $7.2 million dollars. With that being said, it was also rumored that a press conference would come Friday announcing Harbaugh as the new coach of the Miami Dolphins.

• Thursday night, Chris Mortensen was reporting that the Dolphins would instead retain their current head coach Tony Sparano apparently after meeting with Harbaugh.

• John Elway and the Denver Broncos are also working to set up an interview with Jim Harbaugh.

Stay tuned to The Majors and The Majors Detroit for more on all of this as it develops.