Arizona Cardinals linebacker Larry Foote, a former All-American at Michigan, said Jim Harbaugh leaving the NFL to coach the Wolverines isn't going to happen.
Foote, whose Cardinals play the Detroit Lions on Sunday, was on Detroit's WXYT-FM on Tuesday, and one of the topics of discussion was whether Harbaugh would become coach at Michigan, his alma mater.
"No, no, no," Foote said. "When you have an NFL job, college will always be there. Just by his body of work and what he did already at Stanford, I don't see that happening."
Current Michigan coach Brady Hoke is on the hot seat, and conventional wisdom is that he will be fired after the season. Michigan, which is 5-5, is off this week and finishes the regular season with games against Maryland (Nov. 22) and archrival Ohio State (Nov. 29). One more win would get the Wolverines a bowl bid, but that likely wouldn't be enough to save Hoke's job. Hoke is in his fourth season at the school and owns a 31-18 record. The Wolverines went 11-2 in Hoke's first season, but they've been on a steady descent ever since.
Foote also talked about what he thought was wrong at his alma mater.
"They better change up their recruiting," said Foote, a Detroit native. "They better get some (coaches) in there that can get some NFL talent. Like I said before, Michigan better go back to the 'hood. They got too many trust-fund babies in there, and they look like that when they're playing. They got guys out there that are just happy, they're happy they're at Michigan, they're losing and smiling. And that's just not Michigan football. And that's got to change."
The recruiting aspect cannot be overstated. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is one of the best recruiters in the nation, and unless Michigan ramps up its recruiting -- no matter the coach -- the Wolverines risk being left in the dust by the Buckeyes. In fact, other than Meyer and first-year Penn State coach James Franklin, the Big Ten doesn't have any head coaches who are considered top-flight recruiters.
Foote specifically mentioned quarterback as a position of worry.
"We have to find us a quarterback quick, fast and in a hurry," he said. "I don't care who is coaching, whether it's Harbaugh or Vince Lombardi. We ain't got no quarterback, and without one, we can't compete at this level."
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
