Harbaugh's staying, Dabo's hiring & Florida's $13 million question mark

Welcome to the college football offseason. Who's ready for seven months of off-field musings?! Anyone? OK, nevermind. To keep you up to speed, we'll be sending out this (upgraded) newsletter until we have preseason content to sink our teeth into. In the meantime, batten the hatches for an offseason chock full of NIL angst and fiery debates over Will Levis's draft stock, which will absolutely cost some NFL GM his job within the next five years.

HARBAUGHISMS

JIM HARBAUGH SET TO RETURN IN 2023

Everyone can relax. Michigan president Santa Ono announced this week that Jim Harbaugh will be back for his ninth season as coach of the Wolverines, ending weeks of speculation and another round of footsies with the NFL. As such, we can lower our Harbaugh-to-NFL Alert Level back down to yellow, which means that we'll definitely be doing this all again next year.

It couldn't be any clearer that Harbaugh wants another crack at the NFL. In his four seasons with the Niners from 2011-2014, Harbaugh went to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl, amassing a 44-19-1 record and a .690 winning percentage, which is...nice. Given his brief success in the NFL and recent run at Michigan, Harbaugh has earned the right to be patient and wait for the right opportunity.

In the meantime, Michigan should again be loaded in 2023, so perhaps there's still time for Big Jim to win a national championship before kicking off another round of speed dating.

COACHING CAROUSEL

DABO MAKES A BIG MOVE

We joked during our Los Angeles live show that Dabo Swinney was slowly melting. That was a quality goof and we stand by it. But, the downfall of the Swinney era at Clemson might not actually be a thing. At least not yet.

Just a day after firing first-year offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, Swinney swooped in for Garrett Riley — yes, the younger brother of Lincoln Riley — who helped architect the TCU offense during its storybook run to the national championship game. The move is notable for a few reasons. For one, poaching Riley means that Swinney is serious about addressing some of his offensive woes in 2022. And secondly, Swinney hasn't fired an assistant since parting ways with Kevin Steele after losing 70-33 in the 2011 Orange Bowl!

The knock on Streeter was a dearth of big plays in the Clemson offense, inconsistency by DJ Uiagalelei at quarterback, and a lack of development along the offensive line and at receiver. Still, the Tiger offense wasn't all that bad. One thing's for sure, though: this is great news for Will Shipley, Clemson's do-it-all running back, who didn't get the ball nearly enough last season. If Riley's tenure at TCU is any indication, he'll make it a priority to get his playmakers the ball.

Related:

• Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding is leaving for the same position at Ole Miss

• Ohio State is promoting Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator

• Derek Mason is stepping away from his role as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State and taking a sabbatical from coaching

• TCU is targeting Kendal Briles as its next offensive coordinator

NIL SHENANINGANS

Jaden Rashada and Florida in limbo

NIL skeptics and player's rights advocates: Rejoice! As Stew highlighted above, there's a little something for everyone in this Jaden Rashada story, which The Athletic fabulously chronicled for those of us less versed in Florida's recruiting exploits. TL;DR, the heralded recruit was offered a comically large NIL deal which seems like it's about to fall through. Now, Rashada is trying to get out of his commitment, and the crown jewel of Florida's 2023 class might end up elsewhere. Also, someone's probably about to get suuuuuued.

Unfortunately, it feels like we're destined to read more stories like this. On one hand, I'm happy for Rashada getting a lucrative deal. Get paid, son! On the other, I can't possibly imagine the logic in giving $13 million to an unproven recruit.

The moral of the story: Make sure you have everything important in writing!

Related:

• Walker Howard, the recruit who did the weird 360-degree photo booth dance thing with Brian Kelly, is taking his talents to Ole Miss

• Spencer Sanders, is also taking his talents to Ole Miss, which is kind of weird, no?

• Jake Garcia, former top 25 recruit, is transferring from Miami

• Georgia wideout Adonai Mitchell has entered the transfer portal

THE VERBALLERHOOD

WHAT'S GOOD IN THE VERBALLERHOOD?

Well, the games are over, but college football has continued its trend of gradually becoming a year-round sport. As such, the grind continues! We'll be posting two podcast episodes per week from now until the start of next season. Listen to the podcast by clicking here or check out our individual episodes below. You can also view full episode videos and smaller clips on our YouTube channel.

THIS WEEK'S EPISODES:

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Thanks for reading. Until next week, stay solid!-Ty Hildenbrandt