Jim Harbaugh to the Carolina Panthers? Owner David Tepper in talks with Michigan HC - Reports

Jim Harbaugh's long-awaited return to the NFL could be just around the corner.

According to Charlotte's Queen City News, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has held talks with Harbaugh about the team's head coach position. The team fired former head coach Matt Rhule earlier this season after a disastrous start to the 2022 campaign. The Panthers were 1-4 when Rhule was relieved of his duties.

The team named defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach Steve Wilks as the interim head coach. The team went 6-5 in his 11 games in charge of the Panthers.

Per Fox's Will Kunkel, Tepper and Harbaugh only had a conversation about the vacant head coaching position and not an interview. The team will formally begin searching for their new head coach once their season ends on Sunday.

Jim Harbaugh coaching career: A second stint as NFL HC on the horizon?

Jim Harbaugh began his coaching career in 2002 as the quarterbacks' coach for the Oakland Raiders. He spent two seasons with the team before taking over as the head coach of the San Diego Toreros. After three seasons with the program, Harbaugh joined the Stanford Cardinal and spent four years as their head coach.

His stint with Stanford led to an NFL head coaching gig with the San Francisco 49ers. In his rookie season as an NFL head coach, Harbaugh led the 49ers to a 13-3 record. They were beaten in the NFC Championship Game by the New York Giants, who went on to win the Super Bowl, but Harbaugh's excellent debut season earned him the AP Coach of the Year honor.

In Harbaugh's second season as head coach, the 49ers went one better and reached the Super Bowl, but they were beaten by the Baltimore Ravens, led by Jim's brother, John Harbaugh. In 2013, Harbaugh and the 49ers finished with a 12-4 record but were yet again beaten in the NFC Championship Game by eventual Super Bowl winners, the Seattle Seahawks.

After a lackluster 2014 season, where the 49ers finished with an 8-8 record, Harbaugh said goodbye to the NFL and returned to college football to lead his alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines. He has spent the last eight years leading the Wolverines' football program, and while he has two Big Ten championships, he has failed to reach the NCAA Championship Game.

After Michigan's 51-45 loss in the Fiesta Bowl on Sunday, Jim Harbaugh might finally be ready to move on from the Wolverines and return to the NFL.