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Things escalated in a hurry. Yeah, Brick killed a guy.
And with that, the cash-fille arm race that is college football took another turn toward the sublime and the unspeakable.
Michigan reportedly offered Jim Harbuagh a six-year deal in the very plush neighborhood of $8 million per year.
Wow.
Eight million bucks. Eight million. That's huge and scary and in truth completely understandable because a football powerhouse at an athletic department the size of Michigan.
Michigan can't afford to be bad at football. Not in today's landscape of college football monsters who move and shake across the face of the sports world. Being bad is being irrelevant, and without success you are without hope. Paying $2.5 million for a blah coach is wasting more money than paying Nick Saban $7 million Or $17 for that matter.
That said, there is still miles to go before Harbaugh sleeps in Ann Arbor.
This report could be a) wishful thinking; b) Harbaugh's people leaking info to set the price; c) Harbaugh's people leaking info to force the 49ers to lower their trade demands if he wants to go to another NFL team; or d) the beginning of the next round of ratcheting up the cost of the arms race that is college football.
To address the first three choices, well, those things happen in stories like this. Sources have agendas and can spin stories in directions they need them to go. It happens.
As for the final option above, well, buckle up.
Michigan can't afford to be stinky at football. Period. And if takes $8 million a year to a guy with the resume like Harbaugh's, then we can make a hard argument he's worth every penny.
Then.... what does Saban get from Alabama, because Saban is the best in the country? Or what does Jimbo Fisher get from FSU because he's in position to potentially win back-to-back titles?
Plus, if Michigan now gets anyone other than Harbaugh -- or one of the five monster names that are completely unbeatable at this point like Saban, Meyer, and a couple others -- it's going to feel like a major disappoint, right?
And unless they get Harbaugh, the tick-tock, tick-tock waiting game continues to bleed the Maize and Blue of precious recruiting time.
Wow, this is a sticky situation. Or if Ulysses Everett McGill were the Michigan AD, he likely would say, "We're in a tight spot!"
It's a perilous situation in a world of football storylines that have our attention. Did you see...
* After leaving prison almost $18 million in debt, Mike Vick is within one real estate sell from paying off the whole note. Say what you want about Vick's crimes or how he selfishly crippled the Falcons, but the fact that he has owned his situation is cool. ESPN's Darren Rovell detailed how Vick has inched within sight of paying off the entire amount despite legally owing a fraction of that total after declaring bankruptcy, even quoting financial advisor Joseph Luzinski saying: "What Michael did was the exception, not the rule. He didn't have to do this. The law allows you to skate by and pay your creditors 10 or 20 cents on the dollar, but he thought this was the right thing to do."
* OK, want to know who has attended more schools than Einstein? According to this report, Michael O'Connor has decided to leave Penn State. So O'Connor has been at a high school in Canada, The Baylor School, the IMG Academy before enrolling last December at Penn State and now will transfer. Man, he must have good luggage.
* Drew Dinkmeyer is living the dream. Dude left his job on Wall Street as a financial consultant to play fantasy sports professionally. Yes, you read that right. Last weekend, when Jay Cutler threw a 1-yard TD pass in a meaningless moment in a runaway game, Dinkmeyer won $1 million playing fantasy football.