Picking apart that hot Jim Harbaugh-to-return-to-NFL-coaching rumor

But you probably heard (or saw) it because it’s been just about impossible to avoid, at least on social media.

As absurd as it might seem to anyone who actually follows college football closely, a “report” has made the rounds nonetheless.

First Fox Sports radio host Colin Cowherd did MMQB reporter Albert Breer no favors by telling his listeners last week something Breer apparently said off the air about Harbaugh-to-LA rumors being "a very real thing."

Why Cowherd thought this was a good idea is anyone’s guess, but it stands to reason if Breer found that to be a reportable nugget, he would have mentioned it during a segment of the actual show.

Nonetheless, Cowherd got the ball rolling.

CBSSports.com picked it up and added a bunch of context that may or may not fit, and many others passed along the story, often with even less context and thus confusing things even more.

Further complicating this: Breer is an unabashed Ohio State fan, giving Michigan fans plenty of reason to think he could be trying to lampoon Harbaugh’s recruiting efforts.

Breer later Tweeted, “I never said Harbaugh was going anywhere. I believe he’ll eventually be back in the NFL. Until then, teams will pursue him.”

On Periscope, he offered an even more thorough response, saying, "The Harbaugh thing got misconstrued and out of control."

“Harbaugh’s name came up, and here’s why. I think it should be the first call the Rams make. I also think additionally Harbaugh will eventually coach in the NFL again. I don’t know when it’s going to be, but he will coach in the NFL again.”

After saying the most likely landing points could be Indianapolis, Chicago or somewhere in California, Breer added, “Now he may want to coach at Michigan for a decade, but his success in the NFL as a Super Bowl coach for the 49ers, his success at Michigan means that and I’ve said this for a while now he’s this generation’s Bill Parcells. He can come in and shake your program up. He’s eventually going to wear people out, but he’s as effective as anybody at establishing and affecting change within a group of people. So I think eventually he’s going to be back in the NFL. He’s got unfinished business there. Now, do I know if it will be next year, the year after? 10 years from now? No, only he knows that, and he’s obviously a very free thinker.

“I never said that Jim Harbaugh’s going to the Rams. I never said Jim Harbaugh’s leaving Michigan. All I said was that if the Rams are going to make that change, their next call should be the Jim Harbaugh. And I think eventually Jim Harbaugh will be back in the NFL. It might be 10 years from now. It might be 20 years from now. I just think it’s eventually going to happen.”

Although Harbaugh will be 72 in 20 years, these are reasonable things to say and think. They are also much harder to quickly pass along via social media, so not surprisingly they’ve gone largely unnoticed.

The bottom line is the idea Harbaugh could possibly be favoring a return to the NFL right now seems pretty absurd.

He has done nothing but display passion – dare I say, enthusiasm? – for the Michigan job since returning to Ann Arbor.

He’s talked at length about loving being back where he came of age, of taking up the mantle of his idol Bo Schembechler and trying to lead the Wolverines back to glory.

He also seems to have jumped head-first back into recruiting, willing to make rap videos, climb trees and even spend the night with a recruit to try to attract to talent to Ann Arbor.

He’s lost three of four games to rivals Ohio State and Michigan State, but he got the Wolverines to a New Year’s Day bowl last year and now they are preparing for the Orange Bowl.

But for some reason there remains a certain hubris among NFL reporters that of course no one could possibly want to do anything more than coach in the NFL, so it becomes easy to believe he might drop his alma mater at the first chance he gets.

Is that possible? Sure, anything is.

Is it probable? No, at least not after only two years. Not with a top five recruiting class already on campus and another strong likely on the way.

He’s done the hardest part of rebuilding the program. He’s not leaving just when the tree starts to bear fruit.

The stuff about Harbaugh wearing out his welcome wherever he goes seems to have some merit, but in only two years in which he’s gone 20-5?

Nah.

Come one, internet. Let’s be better.