Jim Harbaugh has made plenty of headlines this season. He started the season serving a three-game suspension for NCAA recruiting violations. He then served a three-game suspension for Michigan's sign-stealing scandal. The latest chatter around the head coach is whether he'll stay in college or move back to the NFL ranks.
But Harbaugh's mind is elsewhere. Ahead of Monday's College Football Playoff national championship game, his comments about the game took a backseat to his thoughts about paying college athletes.
College athletes have made significant strides in recent years in terms of how much money they can make through NIL deals, but as Harbaugh notes, none of the money the NCAA generates goes directly to the players. "They're getting the same amount as I got in the '80s," Harbaugh told reporters during his media availability. "They're getting a scholarship — room and board, books and tuition."
"I don't know who's the voice for the student athletes," Harbaugh continued, "but you've got the organizations that are fighting for their share, their piece and it's time to share."
So how would that sharing work?
"Anybody that's profiting off the student athletes right now, myself included … take 5-10% less — that could go for any administrator, any coach, any conference, any university, the NCAA — 5-10% less and maybe a 10% tax for the television station into one pot for the student athletes. That's a start."
It's not the first time Harbaugh has said he would take less money for the sake of his players. Ahead of the Big Ten championship game against Iowa, Harbaugh made similar comments to reporters about college players getting paid for their performance.
“For the players to be compensated, I’m using my voice, and I would take less money for the players to have a share. I hope other coaches would use their voice to express the same thing,” Harbaugh said.
According to USA Today's database of college coach salaries, Harbaugh is slated to make north of $8M, which ranks 12th among all college football coaches. Nick Saban is at the top of that list with a salary over $11M. The top 50 college football coaches make a combined $323M.
