ANN ARBOR, Mich. — MIchigan's success on the football is making an impact on campus, especially in the athletic department.
The Wolverines clinched the Big Ten East championship when they snapped an eight-game losing streak to rival Ohio State Saturday. The win meant a windfall for head coach Jim Harbaugh, who announced Monday that he'll use his bonus money to help his colleagues out.
Harbaugh said the $500,000 he earned for the division title and any bonus money he makes through the rest of the season would go back to the university's athletic department to help staff members who took pay cuts last year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whether it’s folks that work here in football or at the ticket department or baseball coaches, (swim coach) Mike Bottom, there’s so many people that my wife has gotten very close to, kids have, really just our family contribution to those that have had some financial strain through the last 18 months,” Harbaugh said on a weekly radio show, according to The Detroit News.
The Wolverines will face the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. According to a tweet from Detroit News reporter Angelique Chengelis, a win Saturday would earn Harbaugh another $1 million and would likely qualify Michigan for the College Football Playoff and another $200,000 bonus.
He would earn $500,000 more if Michigan advances to the National Championship game and another $1 million if the Wolverines win it all.
In all, Harbaugh could collect nearly $3.5 million in bonuses, which he said will all be used to reimburse those who took voluntary or mandatory reductions in pay during the pandemic.