Sometime in the next week, the Minnesota Vikings will head to Manny’s to celebrate with their new head coach. But just as Kevin O’Connell, DeMeco Ryans, or Raheem Morris begin to dive into their double porterhouse, a loud crash will come from the back room.
After bursting through the wall with the energy of the Kool-Aid Man, Jim Harbaugh will stand amid the rubble. At that moment, he’ll lock eyes with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and proclaim a simple fact.
“You were right,” Harbaugh will say. “I need you.”
“Yes,” Adofo-Mensah replies. “And we need you.”
Over the past week, the connection between Harbaugh and the Vikings has grown. With every tweet and podcast appearance by John U. Bacon, the possibility of seeing khakis at U.S. Bank Stadium becomes stronger. But it also makes sense that both parties would benefit from a potential relationship.
First, we need to ask why Harbaugh would return to the NFL. He has a dream job at his alma mater. Harbaugh just led the Michigan Wolverines to the College Football Playoff, and he seems to have found a staff that can get the most out of his players. Hell, he beat Ohio State!
But before this season, Harbaugh’s tenure was on the ropes. The Wolverines averaged nine wins in his first five years and had never defeated the Buckeyes. While those numbers would be great if we were talking about P.J. Fleck, that type of success is not what Michigan hired him for.
It’s created a situation where Harbaugh can’t win at Michigan. If he doesn’t go 12-2 with a Big Ten title and a win over the Buckeyes, he’ll be on the hot seat. If he does, he’ll head to the College Football Playoff, where he’ll get obliterated by an SEC team.
The landscape of college football also plays a role in this. By adding Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC has become an unstoppable force. And with the addition of the transfer portal, the players who Harbaugh flies all over the country to recruit could leave for Georgia or Alabama if they don’t get playing time.
It would make more sense to return to the NFL, retain his salary, and have a legitimate shot at winning a championship. And it makes a lot of sense to do it in Minnesota.
With Patrick Graham joining the fray on Saturday, the Vikings have narrowed their coaching search down to five candidates, including Harbaugh. The Vikings would reportedly love to find their next Mike Tomlin, but the flaws of the other four candidates would prevent that from happening.
Morris has a solid resumé, but his time in Tampa could give the Vikings second thoughts. Graham has led a bottom-tier defense in two of his three seasons as defensive coordinator. O’Connell is the latest guy who shook Sean McVay’s hand. Ryans has only been coaching for five years.
None of these guys seem like the next Tomlin. But the Vikings can get with someone on his level with Harbaugh.
Before Harbaugh took over the San Francisco 49ers, they were in a similar situation as the Vikings. In three seasons under Mike Singletary, the 49ers went 18-22 despite having a talented roster. They were good enough to get to .500 but not good enough to get over the hump.
But Harbaugh made an immediate impact when he arrived in 2011. The 49ers went 13-3 and earned home-field advantage in the playoffs. The following season, Harbaugh took them to the Super Bowl while unleashing Colin Kaepernick, and he took the 49ers back to the conference championship game the following season.
That three-year stretch should show everything the Vikings need to make this decision. Harbaugh took a mediocre team and turned them into a legitimate contender. He developed a starting quarterback in Kaepernick. And he established a culture of winning that was, in the words of Mark Wilf, super competitive.
Even if Harbaugh wants control over the roster, it might be a good thing. The Vikings want to establish a collaborative culture. That shouldn’t be an issue if Harbaugh and Adofo-Mensah are on the same page. If anything, it would take some of the pressure off the first-year general manager.
Offering Adofo-Mensah some relief could be huge considering the decisions that the Vikings need to make this offseason. The Kirk Cousins verdict could impact the Vikings for the next decade. Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Adam Thielen are a few of the veterans who the Vikings could let go. Even the chance to find a new quarterback in the draft is something Adofo-Mensah might not have first-hand experience with.
Harbaugh wouldn’t be a long-term solution. But nobody will care if Harbaugh leads the Vikings to the Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles have a statue of Doug Pederson and Nick Foles in front of their stadium, and they weren’t even with the team two years after winning it all.
The NFL is wild, and Minnesota a perfect place for Harbaugh.
