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Report: Minnesota Vikings to interview Jim Harbaugh

A big report.

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s been a long month of January in terms of all the speculation surrounding Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.

A report from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio states that Harbaugh will interview with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings new general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, was in the San Francisco 49ers organization during Harbaugh’s last two years there as head coach — whether that past connection will lead to Harbaugh being the new Vikings coach remains to be seen.

Harbaugh was expected to gain NFL interest this month — he’s been connected to the Las Vegas Raiders head coach vacancy as well, but there’s been no formal interview that’s taken place yet.

This report comes after weeks of uncertainty surrounding why Harbaugh hasn’t signed a new deal with Michigan to up his salary and the salaries of his assistants. As I reported earlier this month, of course NFL teams are interested in Jim Harbaugh. After a year where Michigan beat Ohio State, won the Big Ten Championship, made the College Football Playoff, Harbaugh’s stock is high once again after winning the Associated Press Coach of the Year.

The NFC is becoming increasingly more enticing as the balance of power has shifted dramatically to the AFC — the AFC has Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson. The NFC doesn’t have the same amount of elite quarterback talent, and a guy named Tom Brady just retired and is no longer in the conference, another guy named Aaron Rodgers may soon be headed for the AFC. If Harbaugh wanted to head back to the NFL, going to a team like the Vikings would make sense — a talented team that could use a few more pieces on both sides of the ball and a head coach ready to win now.

This is a developing story, and one we’ll have our eyes on.