Why the Vikings should reconsider hiring Jim Harbaugh to be their head coach

After passing on him in 2022, should the Minnesota Vikings reconsider their decision not to hire Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and bring him in this year?

Two years ago, Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan to become the new head coach of the Minnesota Vikings seemed as close to being a done deal without the ink actually hitting the paper of a contract.

But something unknown happened during the interview process, and the Vikings wound up having second thoughts about making Harbaugh their head coach.

Ultimately, Minnesota decided not to hire the Michigan coach, and the Vikings went on to hire Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell as their new head coach.

Minnesota Vikings should consider pursuing Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh again in 2024

In the two years since Minnesota passed on Harbaugh and hired O'Connell, they've won 20 of their 34 games (including the playoffs), but they failed to get a postseason win in 2022, and they likely won't be playing past Week 18 this season.

Meanwhile, all Michigan has done under Harbaugh since 2022 is go 27-1, earn back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff, and next Monday, the school will be attempting to win a national championship when they take on Washington.

Following the 2023 NFL season, Harbaugh is, unsurprisingly, expected to draw some interest from teams around the league. A return to the NFL was made to seem even more possible recently when the Michigan head coach reportedly hired Don Yee to be his agent, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel.

Yee is the current agent of Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, he represented former NFL quarterback Tom Brady during his playing career, and he has a number of connections to people around the league.

After two seasons with O'Connell as their head coach, no one really knows what direction the Vikings are currently heading in.

Minnesota continues to say they want to remain competitive each year, but they're not going to achieve much success by attempting to patch up some holes here and there as they've done during the last two offseasons.

If the goal for the Vikings is to win a Super Bowl within the next few years, then making another attempt to hire Harbaugh as their head coach might be something for them to consider.

Harbaugh has already had success in the past as an NFL head coach when he was with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, and what he's helped Michigan accomplish in the last two years cannot be ignored.

O'Connell might be able to eventually lead Minnesota to a Super Bowl win during his tenure with the franchise, but Harbaugh might be the guy who can help the franchise get that championship victory much sooner.