Jim Harbaugh is strongly linked to the Minnesota Vikings Job. It would make a lot of sense for the Vikings to hire him as their next head coach. Harbaugh has had success in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and there’s a ton of similarities between the Vikings and the 49ers team that he took over in 2011.
Let’s start with the quarterbacks. As we know Harbaugh had Alex Smith a veteran quarterback that Harbaugh was inherited with. Smith who had time left on his contract. During the 2011 NFL Draft, the 49ers trade up for an extremely raw Colin Kaepernick who is an extremely good athlete with raw ability.
Harbaugh was able to coach Kaepernick to eventually take over for Smith, who was eventually traded to Kansas City. Kaepernick was able to improve his overall Quarterback play which led to multiple playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl appearance against the Baltimore Ravens with the guidance of Harbaugh.
After Harbaugh left in 2014, things went downhill for a few years for San Francisco.
We currently have a similar scenario in Minnesota. Kirk Cousins is an established quarterback with room for improvement with Kellen Mond waiting in the wings. Kellen Mond has similar athletic characteristics that Kaepernick had. If Mond takes Harbaugh’s coaching seriously, he could be the next great quarterback of this team.
The Vikings have been looking for a long-term answer for ages since a healthy Daunte Culpepper.
With the right attitude and coaching it could be a great marriage between Harbaugh and Mond for your future of the Minnesota Vikings. Next, we’ll talk about the locker room. Harbaugh knows how to win over the locker room.
During the 2012 season, you have guys like NaVarro Bowman, Aldon Smith, Justin Smith, Mike Iupati, Frank Gore, Randy Moss, and many others that had a high respect for Harbaugh, which led the 49ers to go to the Super Bowl.
Fast forward to 2022 you have guys from Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith, and Danielle Hunter to guys like Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, CJ Ham, and Brian O’Neill. Towards the end of the Zimmer era, something simply just seemed off.
Especially after the first Lions game when Zimmer and Kirk looked like they were going to choke one another. Sometimes a reload is the best thing that you can do in a football team. Minnesota has Top 5 talent in the NFL, and they are hungry for more than just getting by.
Justin Jefferson even mentioned why is this team not in the playoffs, and Thielen’s agent even said “it’s time” in regarding of the exit of Zimmer. Harbaugh has never a start-from-scratch type of guy, but more so fix the stuff that was broken and make it better, than when you got it brand new.
Will Harbaugh choose the Vikings, or will the Vikings choose Jim? We shall see. It will be intriguing to see what those next steps are. The Vikings don’t have much more to lose except maybe Cousins or a few games here and there.
Also remember, this coming Wednesday, the day of his next interview, is also National Signing Day for colleges. If he’s speaking to a NFL Team, you can see where I’m going with this.
Stay tuned.