The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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them — he did a lot of work on his own. It was done in a short period of time, and that's what's so impressive about it." And it didn't take long to separate one name from the pack, Irons noted. Overtures were reportedly made to TCU's Gary Patterson and others, but Hackett quickly turned his atten- tion to the biggest fish in the ocean. He did his homework on Harbaugh, too, before the pursuit, asking any and all who knew him for their opin- ions. Stephenson was one who had first- hand knowledge of Harbaugh as a coach. His son, Cooper (who would end up at USC), had been a Division I recruit sought by Harbaugh when the coach was at the University of San Diego, and he saw the recruiting prowess up close. "He was in my living room when I saw his speech to my son," he re- called. "He sat across from my son, gave him the talk and it was fire and brimstone, how my kid will be used at San Diego. We went through all that. "I saw him in action then, when he was only in his second year at USD. That allowed me to give some insight into other things than just, 'Hey, we know Jim, love him and think he's a great coach.'" While Hackett gathered his infor- mation, Harbaugh remained fully committed to the task at hand in San Francisco, working to help his team try for a fourth straight playoff berth. He left the Michigan groundwork to friends and family, but when the 49ers were eliminated from playoff contention Dec. 14 following a 17-7 loss at Seattle, it became clear Har- baugh to U-M was a real possibility. Those close to it said (off the re- cord) that Dec. 15 was a big day for Michigan in the pursuit of the na- tion's hottest free agent to be. CLOSING THE DEAL For his part, Hackett told NFL Net- work's Rich Eisen on the Michigan alum's radio show that he didn't meet Harbaugh in person until Dec. 30, the day of his hiring, after initially reaching out to the coach just a few weeks prior. Much of what had been accomplished to that point — and it was plenty, from length of contract to terms, signing bonuses ($2 million) and salary — was all in writing, just in need of Harbaugh's signature to make it official. Harbaugh insisted he wouldn't sign while he still had a job, and he kept his word. He inked his deal before boarding his plane for Ann Arbor. "I put a lot of time into thinking through every part of this," Hackett said in his only post-hire interview. "Frankly, the best insight I can give you is that we bonded very quickly — not around him being coach, but around the future of the program. It was such a simple decision from that to say, 'You're the head coach.'" He added he wasn't at all con- cerned about Harbaugh leaving for the NFL in the near future. Harbaugh made it clear at his press conference he was looking for a "permanent home" and hoped to find one in Ann Arbor.