Report: Jim Harbaugh “will flat go to Denver” if he’s offered Broncos job

As the Broncos add Dan Quinn and several other candidates to their head-coaching search and interview list, one man might want the job the most.

In a lengthy article published by The Athletic on Monday morning, Mike Sando dives into the likelihood University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh will land in Denver. If Harbaugh gets his way, he’ll be the next head coach of the Broncos. At least, that’s what someone close to him thinks.

“He will flat go to Denver,” a former Harbaugh ‘associate’ told Sando, anonymously. “He will go take it, in my opinion. (Harbaugh) thought he was going to get the Vikings job last year and it didn’t happen.”

Sando writes that Harbaugh “simply wants back into the league” and isn’t worried about Denver’s disappointing 5-12 season or the uncertainty around QB Russell Wilson and his massive contract. Wilson did show signs of life in the Broncos’ final two games, as the team totaled 55 points after firing Nathaniel Hackett.

The story in The Athletic also mentions the deep Stanford ties between the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group (WPFOG) and Stanford University. Harbaugh took Stanford to new heights while he was the coach there. And CEO Greg Penner and his wife, Carrie Walton-Penner, attended the school. Condoleezza Rice, who’s also part of Broncos ownership, is a senior faculty member.

Again, this is a great piece by Sando, one in which he also explores the possibility of a Vic Fangio reunion in Denver. Would Fangio accept the defensive coordinator position for the Broncos just about a year after getting fired? That’s another mystery, but he’d undoubtedly be a candidate to join Harbaugh’s hypothetical staff.

For now, the Broncos have six interviews scheduled. Harbaugh is expected to talk in a virtual setting to the WPFOG this week.

We’ll see if he can convince them this shouldn’t be a long process to hire their next head coach.

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