Top 5 Landing Places for Jim Harbaugh in 2015

There has been a lot of conversation lately about Jim Harbaugh and whether or not he is coaching his final season in San Francisco.

If that is true, he will not be out of work long as there are many teams that would love to have Harbaugh as their next coach.

Let’s look at the Top 5 potential landing spots for Jim Harbaugh in 2015, assuming that he doesn’t wind up staying in San Francisco:

5) Buffalo Bills

                The Bills haven’t seen the play-offs since the 1999-2000 season and the new ownership is going to want to return to the play-offs as soon as possible.  If Doug Marrone fails to take them to the post season this year, don’t be surprised if new owner Terry Pegula cleans house and brings in a new coach.  That coach could very well be Harbaugh as Buffalo has some very enticing pieces that could attract Jim Harbaugh to Western New York.  Buffalo has a very good defense that plays tough and a strong rushing attack.  Jim Harbaugh may be the perfect coach to bring the Buffalo Bills back to the play-offs, and the ownership and fan base would surely get behind a move like this.

4) Miami Dolphins

                The Joe Philbin experiment is just about over as another losing season will certainly end his relationship with the Miami Dolphins.  They were one of the teams that heavily pursued Jim Harbaugh when he was at Stanford.  Miami would logically jump through hoops to get a proven winner in as a head coach.

3) Chicago Bears

                Jim Harbaugh was a quarterback for the Chicago Bears from 1987-1993 and Chicago may need a new coach soon if they continue their mediocrity.  Current Coach Marc Trestman is struggling to take Jay Cutler and his plethora of offensive weapons to the next level.  Part of the reason is because the Chicago Bears’ defense is not the dominant force it once was.  Bringing in Harbaugh would bring back the toughness to a team that severely needs it.

2) New York Jets

                Rex Ryan is done in New York, it is only a formality at this point.  Geno Smith cannot lead this team to the play-offs even with a defense that is performing well at times.  Jim Harbaugh loves the spotlight and there is no bigger spotlight that New York.  The Jets haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 1968 and fans of the Jets are sick of watching the other team in New York beat New England when they cannot.  Jim Harbaugh has led the 49ers to the NFC Championship all three years that he has coached, and one of three times, he made the Super Bowl.  Rex Ryan got them to the AFC Championship, but has not been able to take them one step farther.

1) Oakland Raiders

                Sometimes the obvious choice is still the most likely choice.  Oakland is relatively close to San Francisco so the family would not necessarily need to move.  Oakland is full of young talent and an organization that would likely give Harbaugh any amount of power he wanted in order to restore this team to relevance.  The down sides for Harbaugh taking this job is that you have Peyton Manning in your division, your roster isn’t very deep, and there is a small chance the team may end up in San Antonio.  That is not a knock on San Antonio - it’s a great sports town - it’s just that it negates the location advantage that Oakland has.

Whether or not Harbaugh is coaching his last season in San Francisco, he is likely to have success again next season no matter where he is.  If he does hit the free agent coaching market, expect him to be on the top of the list for every team who has a coaching vacancy, and likely even some that haven’t fired their coaches yet.