On Harbaugh, Luck and the Orange Bowl

In case you haven't noticed -- and don't worry if you haven't, I know you've got a lot of things going on -- I've been down in south Florida the past few days writing stories about Andrew Luck, Jim Harbaugh and Virginia Tech in anticipation of tonight's Orange Bowl.

Here's a link to the Harbaugh story, which was published today.

Here's a link to the Andrew Luck story, which was published Sunday.

I am staying in Miami tonight to cover the Orange Bowl itself -- it should be a great battle between Tech's Tyrod Taylor and Luck, who will likely be the No.1 draft pick of 2011 (and you know who holds that pick) if he decides to come out.

I've learned a lot about both Luck and Harbaugh while in Florida. Ultimately, I don't think they're both going to end up as Carolina Panthers -- one as the quarterback, the other as coach -- although the idea is so intriguing. An online betting service listed the odds of that happening as 5-1 the other day, and that's about right.

For one thing, Harbaugh has too many options. Apparently, new Denver Broncos VP (and former Stanford star) John Elway is going to be in Miami tonight and will want to talk to Harbaugh about the Broncos job as soon as this game is done.

And then there's the 49ers -- Harbaugh wouldn't even have to uproot his family to take that job. And then there's Michigan -- Rich Rodriguez isn't technically fired yet, although that's got to be coming. And then there's the fact that Panthers GM Marty Hurney would apparently prefer to hire an established NFL coordinator type -- in other words, what John Fox was in 2002 -- rather than a college head coach.

I don't think Harbaugh will stay at Stanford, but of course that's a possibility as well.

Luck's decision is simpler -- stay or go. He doesn't have as many options as Harbaugh, but the path is complicated, too. He has to worry about the NFL lockout -- what if there is no 2011 season, but he comes out and then doesn't get to play anywhere? This, I believe, may be Luck's biggest fear about the whole thing.

In any case, much more to come -- I'll have coverage of Luck, Harbaugh and Virginia Tech up to and including in Wednesday's Charlotte Observer newspaper.