John Harbaugh emerges as shock candidate for NFC juggernaut but players want $20million coach to stay

John Harbaugh is one of the hottest names in the coaching cycle and his latest potential job technically isn’t open yet.

This comes as Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur could be the latest to find himself on the hot seat.

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Ahead of their NFL Wild Card clash against their NFC North rival Chicago Bears, reports emerged that LaFleur and the Packers would meet once their season ended to discuss an extension to his $20 million deal.

But, following their historic collapse to the Bears at Soldier Field on Saturday night when they blew an 18-point lead to lose 31-27, the Green Bay brass may now be considering a stunning U-turn.

According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, Packers President Ed Policy will be mulling over the decision of whether to extend LaFleur or part ways with the 46-year-old after seven seasons.

“The Green Bay Packers and their new President Ed Policy have a significant decision to make here in the coming days,” Schefter revealed on Sunday.

“That is whether to extend Matt LeFleur’s contract – he’s currently got one year remaining – or whether to move on from him.

“If they moved on from him, he automatically would go near the top of the [list] coaches available and shake up this current head coaching cycle yet again.

LaFleur has a 76-40-1 regular season record as Packers head coach, which is the fourth-best winning percentage (.654) among active NFL head coaches.

However, he has just a 1-4 record in the postseason.

With that in mind, and the defeat to the Bears still so raw, Schefter is of the belief that the Packers could ultimately decide to part ways with LaFleur, especially with a hot commodity like John Harbaugh available on the market.

“Notice how he said this belongs to the Packers President Ed Policy. Well the Packers’ former President back in the day was a man by the name of Bob Harlan. Bob Harlan’s son Bryan Harlan represents John Harbaugh.

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“John Harbaugh is a mid-western guy who has a home in the Upper Peninsula and a lot of people around the league have been wondering, if the Packers decide to go in a different direction, if all of a sudden the Green Bay Packers might fall to the top of John Harbaugh’s list as the top available choice for him.

“This has been a wild and crazy coaching cycle, and we may just be scratching the surface.”

According to ESPN reporter Rob Demovsky, LaFleur and team president Policy have already briefly spoken on the flight home, with another conversation expected early on in the week.

Harbaugh is most sought-after coach in the NFL

After the Baltimore Ravens‘ shocking firing of Harbaugh after 18 seasons and a Super Bowl victory, the 63-year-old immediately emerged as one of the hottest candidates on the coaching market.

With eight – and potentially rising – vacancies in the league, all teams (excluding Baltimore) have reportedly shown interest in Harbaugh, including one who still had a coach in place at the time of calling his agent Harlan.

It has been speculated that this particular call came from the Miami Dolphins, who have since fired Mike McDaniel.

But it is expected that Harbaugh – who comes with a staggering list of prerequisites – will limit his coaching interviews to just a handful of teams.

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“He said ‘every team has reached out,’ but he’s not going to go and do that [interview with every team],” Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer said on Saturday.

“He’s going to narrow it down this weekend to about three or four teams and make his decision on where he wants to go this week.”

Furthermore, Dianna Russini of The Athletic has reported that Harbaugh is spending the next few days watching film of quarterbacks, particularly Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward of the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans, respectively.

LaFleur has backing of his players

With Harbaugh potentially waiting in the wings to take over the helm in Green Bay, LaFleur won’t walk away easily.

Although he deflected any talk over his future after Saturday’s defeat, LaFleur spoke of how he feels about being the Packers coach.

“It mans everything to me. This is the greatest organization in the world, in my opinion,” LaFleur said postgame.

“It’s very humbling. I’m certainly disappointed right now, disappointed mostly for — well, not mostly — I’m disappointed for everybody that’s associated with the Green Bay Packers.

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I’m disappointed for our locker room. I’m disappointed for our fans. I’m disappointed for our leadership, all our employees, everybody involved with the Green Bay Packers right now.”

On Sunday, LeFleur revealed that he had held initial talks with Policy on the flight home with more to come.

“This is one of one. I love this place,” he added via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky as he pleaded to keep his job.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who completed 24-of-46 passing for 323 yards and four touchdowns in their Wild Card defeat has voiced his full support for his head coach.

“I definitely think Matt should be the head coach,” Love told reporters postgame. “I’ve got a lot of love for Matt, and I think he does a good job.”

“I’m not too much concerned about Matt,” running back Josh Jacobs added. “I feel like the fans put way too much pressure on him with what they feel like he should be at …

“I think we take it for granted how much winning (there) is and how much winning he does. I think he’s become a great leader since I’ve been here. I think that he cares a lot about this program. I know what he means to the players.

“Speaking for myself, I’m gonna stay firm on wanting him to be the head coach and wanting them to figure something out with him.”

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