What Did Jim Harbaugh and the Vikings Talk About in Their 9-Hour Meeting?

With Brian Flores suing the NFL for racism, there are plenty of discussions going around about the head coach hiring process. Whatever is going on in these front offices is wrong and the Minnesota Vikings hiring process might be the weirdest one in the league.

The #Vikings met with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for 9 hours today, but the team didn’t make an offer, per source.

So Harbaugh returns to Ann Arbor and Kevin O’Connell — soon — is expected to head to Minnesota.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 3, 2022

The Vikings and Jim Harbaugh met for NINE HOURS last week. Harbaugh had to awkwardly drive back to the airport and fly back to Ann Arbor without a job offer. Minnesota is expected to hire the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, Kevin O’Connell, when he becomes available following the Super Bowl this Sunday.

So what was even the point of a 9-hour meeting?

Harbaugh went 12-2 coaching Michigan last season. The team finally made the College Football Playoffs. His stock as a coach could not be higher.

Here is what a Vikings writer think occurred in the meeting:

Harbaugh not only has to convince the Wilf family his approach is sufficiently modern in the midst of a youth movement (which shouldn’t be too hard), more importantly he has to quell the rumors that he’s too difficult to deal with. (2/13)

— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) February 2, 2022

Exhibit A of why teams can’t find head coaches. They invited Harbaugh to come interview for a job. He arrived expecting a fair shot at the job and instead, was forced to convince the organization he’s not difficult to deal with.

If you are under the impression someone is difficult to deal with, perhaps you don’t bring him in for a 9-hour grilling and you spend that time interviewing candidates who aren’t. If you think Harbaugh is an asshole, why fly him in and tell him ‘assure me you’re not an asshole anymore’.

Teams have no idea how to hire coaches. Minnesota wants a ‘modern’ coaching style to guide their young players and spent 9 hours with a guy they do not perceive to be modern. The fuck was even the point of bringing him in?

In 2011, Jim Harbaugh walked into the 49ers head coaching position and went 13-3 in his first season. The following season, San Fran went to the Super Bowl. In the season he was fired—the worst season of his NFL career—the 49ers went 8-8. Harbaugh never had a losing season. His starting quarterback became the most hated man in America and they didn’t have a losing season.

So if you’re bringing Harbaugh into your building, you are bringing in a guy with a history of microwaving franchises. He’s also a stubborn weirdo who overstays his welcome who hasn’t been in the NFL for almost a decade.

These front offices bring in former head coaches knowing they have baggage from their previous coaching stints and then force them to swear in blood they have learned their lesson and are totally transformed humans without understanding the context of why they were fired at their last jobs.

It should be the responsibility of the organization to gather all the information they can regarding their candidates. Former head coaches—the ones with the most head coaching experience—come into the hiring process at a massive disadvantage over guys like Joe Judge, who have absolutely no experience and shouldn’t even be interviewed for a position so above their expertise.

NFL front offices are terrible. If anyone ever interviews me for 9 fucking hours, they better have a contract and a pen at the end of the day or their building will be on fire when I leave. I won’t even work a 9-hour shift without complaining to a supervisor and leaving early with a fake illness.