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Look: Report About Jim Harbaugh And His Boss Is Going Viral

Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Wolverines Football

It's been a wild offseason for the Michigan football program.

That continued Friday, when athletics director Warde Manuel announced that the school has fired co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, who is reportedly being investigated by university police for "computer access crimes."

But that's not the only drama that has arisen today.

John U. Bacon of USA Today reported a juicy tidbit on the Michigan Insider radio show Friday morning that has caught the attention of the college football world.

Bacon claims that Manuel and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh are not getting along, as they have not spoken to one another directly since May.

While Bacon's report has not been corroborated elsewhere, Harbaugh, who has spent the past eight seasons at Michigan and the past seven working under Manuel, has developed a reputation as being difficult to work with. 

It would be easy to see how he has caused Manuel some headaches lately. 

Earlier this offseason, Harbaugh not-so-subtly flirted with a return to the NFL, interviewing with the Denver Broncos for their head coaching vacancy. He also got hit with a Level I violation from the NCAA alleging that he intentionally misled enforcement staff who were investigating minor violations within the Wolverine program. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo reported Thursday that Harbaugh has refused to admit that he lied, which has brought a negotiated resolution between Michigan and the NCAA to a standstill.

Further backing up Bacon's report has been new Michigan president Santa Ono's public involvement in trying to get Harbaugh to return for a ninth season. It was Ono who announced on Monday that Harbaugh would be back in 2023, and who a week prior tweeted from his personal account that he was having positive conversations with Harbaugh. 

Ono took over the Michigan presidency in October. Bacon speculated that he will demand a more functional relationship between Harbaugh and Manuel moving forward.

While Harbaugh might create a lot of distractions off the field, his Michigan teams have been performing on it. The Wolverines won the Big Ten, beat rival Ohio State and advanced to the College Football Playoff in 2022 for the second season in a row. 

Despite the loss of Weiss, expectations for the team are high for next season, as well. Athlon Sports ranks the Wolverines No. 2 in our Way Too Early Top 25 for 2023.