DETROIT – University of Michigan President Santa Ono was asked Wednesday if he believes Jim Harbaugh will still be the football coach next season.
Harbaugh helped lead the Wolverines to a second-straight undefeated regular season this year. He was suspended for six of the team’s 12 games, but Michigan beat Ohio State for a third consecutive year and advanced to yet another Big Ten Championship Game.
Over the past three seasons under Harbaugh, the Wolverines are 35-1 in regular-season games and are one win away from a third-straight College Football Playoff appearance.
READ: Michigan validates elite program status with third-straight win over Ohio State
But since he arrived in Ann Arbor in December 2014, Harbaugh’s tenure has been shrouded in rumors about a potential return to the NFL, where he had great success as the coach of the San Francisco 49ers. With the NCAA investigating possible violations for a sign-stealing operation, there are questions about whether Harbaugh might finally make the jump back to the pros after this season.
Local 4′s Devin Scillian asked him, point blank, if he believes Harbaugh will still be the coach at Michigan next season.
“Are you confident Jim Harbaugh’s going to be your coach next year?” Devin asked.
“I hope so,” Ono said. “Like I said, we have to wait and see what happens with all these investigations. He is a great coach and means a lot to the institution.”
That’s not a yes or a no, so it sounds like Michigan fans will have to wait and see once again this offseason. But for now, the focus is on the Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa and another possible playoff berth.
You can listen to Ono’s comments in the video below.
