Michigan desperately wanted to keep Jim Harbaugh

After years of flirting with the NFL, Jim Harbaugh has finally found himself a home back in the league.

Right on the heels of leading the Michigan Wolverines to their first national championship since 1997, Harbaugh took hold of the moment and the hype behind his coaching ability to interview with both the Los Angeles Chargers and the Atlanta Falcons.

The Chargers and Harbaugh came together on a five-year deal Wednesday night, but according to Michigan president Santa Ono, it wasn't for lack of trying from the Wolverines' side of things.

“We have been in talks with Jim Harbaugh for the last several weeks and have tried our best to retain him as our football coach,” Ono said in a statement. “Jim called me today and let me know that he has made the difficult decision to leave Michigan and join the Los Angeles Chargers in pursuit of his NFL dreams. For the fans, the players, and for me personally, we are sad to hear of Jim’s departure. His drive and ambition turned our program around, delivered our first national championship in a quarter century and maintained Michigan as the all-time winningest team in the history of college football. I thank Jim for all he has done for the University of Michigan and respect his decision. He has been an extraordinary leader and a friend. I will be cheering for Jim as he embarks on this next adventure.”

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel also released a statement on Harbaugh's departure, reiterating that he did everything he could to keep the head coach, who went 89-25 with the Wolverines over nine seasons.

"We have been discussing a new contract that would make Jim the highest paid coach in college football," Manuel said. "In the end, he wanted to explore and ultimately decided to pursue a return to coaching in the NFL."

Michigan should be able to quickly pivot to offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore as Harbaugh's replacement. Moore, 37, served as Wolverines interim head coach for four games this past season while Harbaugh was suspended. He was 4-0 in his games, which included a 30-24 win over Ohio State.

Still, it's not hard to see why Michigan tried to hard to keep Harbaugh around. It may have taken him longer than expected, but he slowly but surely built the Wolverines back into a national powerhouse. 

That kind of head coach, no matter how eccentric, is not easy to replace.