What if … the Broncos had hired Jim Harbaugh in 2023?

Jim Harbaugh could have been the head coach of the Denver Broncos.

He was the first outside coaching candidate interviewed by Greg Penner and other members of the Walton-Penner group search committee. The parties had multiple conversations. Ultimately, it didn’t work out, and Harbaugh returned to the University of Michigan while Penner continued apace down the path to hiring Sean Payton.

By staying at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh chose a path that led Michigan to the national title … and ultimately himself to the Los Angeles Chargers. But in this alternate history, Harbaugh never becomes the Chargers coach.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF JIM HARBAUGH TOOK OVER THE BRONCOS?

1. HARBAUGH LANDS GREG ROMAN AS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR, AND HE TAILORS THE SYSTEM TO RUSSELL WILSON

Roman, dismissed by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2022 season, has proficiency designing schemes around quarterbacks who don’t fit a pocket-passer template, going back to inheriting Alex Smith with the San Francisco 49ers in Harbaugh’s first NFL head-coaching job in 2011.

Thus, Wilson operates a scheme more suited to his boom-or-bust, better-when-off-script style. And Wilson plays the entire season while the Broncos eke out two more wins than they achieve in the current timeline we know. Thus …

2. THE BRONCOS GET A WILD-CARD SPOT

They likely go one-and-done, but they snap their post-Super Bowl 50 run of seasons without a postseason bid and earn their first winning season since Gary Kubiak’s final campaign as head coach in 2016. Furthermore …

3. RUSSELL WILSON IS BACK FOR THE 2024 SEASON:

It’s hard to jettison a quarterback who is the starter for a postseason appearance.

Meanwhile …

4. MICHIGAN DOESN’T WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Wolverines, without Jim Harbaugh, fall just short against Ohio State in their regular-season finale. They play out the string in the Cotton Bowl, falling to Missouri.

Ohio State earns a spot in the college-football playoff. They don’t win the national championship; instead, Washington claims its first national title since 1991. And without the battering absorbed in the national-championship game, Michael Penix Jr. goes even higher in the NFL Draft than his No. 8 slot.

Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy turns pro, but without the national-title pedigree, he’s the sixth quarterback taken in the NFL Draft. This makes it possible and palatable for the following to happen …

5. THE BRONCOS TRADE UP FOR J.J. McCARTHY

In possession of their full complement of picks, the Broncos have the ammunition to move up a few spots to take Harbaugh’s former college QB. Yes, Wilson is around for two years, but his presence allows Harbaugh to develop McCarthy slowly. Further, this mirrors the process from Harbaugh’s tenure with San Francisco, where he drafted Colin Kaepernick in Round 2 of the 2011 draft while starting Alex Smith.

In the middle of Kaepernick’s second season, Smith suffered an injury. Kaepernick stepped in and flourished. By 2025, McCarthy’s development comes to fruition and he assumes the reins from Wilson, who by that point is injured, declining due to age — or both.

So, the Broncos have their long-term QB set. And they’ll need him, because …

6. SEAN PAYTON IS THE CHARGERS HEAD COACH

Payton sits out the 2023 season and spends a second year in the FOX studio before assuming the Chargers’ reins after their disastrous 2023 season. Payton immediately goes to work installing his offense with Justin Herbert assuming the reins. Herbert flourishes.

What do you think would have happened?

Watch the June 19 edition of Orange and Blue Today on YouTube and chime in via the comment section, or respond to @MaseDenver or @cecillammmey on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter.

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