While the search is just beginning (or let’s be honest it began about six weeks ago) for the new coach of the University of Michigan football team, there’s one name that Michigan fans have been crossing their fingers for: Jim Harbaugh.

It seems perfect — Harbaugh is rumored to be on his way out at the 49ers, he has Michigan ties and he’s a great coach. But leaving an NFL job for a job at the helm of any college team is unlikely — dealing with recruiting, the NCAA and all of the other disadvantages of college coaching just isn’t worth it if you can get an NFL job. And Harbaugh is far too competitive to leave the best league in the world.

And if he did, it’s not likely he would go to Michigan.

Despite many of the perks that come with coaching at Michigan like a loyal fan base, a strong tradition and a Big Ten that is ripe for making a statement in, it’s not even the best college job available. The athletic department is in total flux with an interim athletic director and a university president that earlier this season admitted he still had a lot to learn about being at a school with a big athletic department.

And then there’s the treatment of the last two coaches that have tried to win at the school. While Brady Hoke may have deserved to be fired after this season, leaving him dangling on a string after the first half of the season without even trying to tamper down rumors that he was leaving was unfair. Making him coach at a school where the university president said he might be fired was unfair.

Before Hoke, Michigan lured Rich Rodriguez away from West Virginia and gave him three seasons before firing him. “I don’t think Rich Rodriguez has had a peaceful night sleep since he arrived in Ann Arbor,” said Dave Brandon, the athletic director at the time (who resigned this season.) “I think that his three years here … can somewhat be defined as three years of turmoil. It seems like it was one thing after another. It clearly impacted recruiting. It clearly impacted the positive energy that the team needs to be successful. It created a lot of hardships and a lot of distractions.

“Clearly, we need to put ourselves in a position where that is all history.”

Hiring Hoke was supposed to do exactly that — he seemed like a better fit, one who wouldn’t have whatever clashes Rodriguez seemed to with the culture in Ann Arbor. And he inspired confidence as a guy that would be a better coach than one who had just lost six of his final eight games.

In the end though, on Tuesday, Rodriguez was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and Hoke was relieved of a coaching position that Michigan made it clear he lost a long time ago.

Michigan is a great job and will likely lure a great coach or at least someone with a lot of promise to turn the team around. But Harbaugh’s spent the past two seasons with the 49ers with similar rumors about his job status. Why would he leave the league to deal with more of that?