Santa Clara, CA (SportsNetwork. Teoscar Hernandez Blue Jays Jersey .com) - It appears Jim Harbaugh is ready to return to the college ranks, this time at his alma mater. Comcast SportsNet Bay Area reports Harbaugh will be introduced as the head football coach at the University of Michigan on Tuesday. Currently the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh will guide his team in Sundays season finale, at home against the playoff-bound Arizona Cardinals. Reports indicate Harbaugh will accept a six-year, $48 million offer to coach the Wolverines, who fired head coach Brady Hoke after four seasons. Hoke posted a 31-20 record at Michigan, but never improved on an 11-2 mark and Sugar Bowl title in his first season with the Wolverines. They went 5-7 overall this season, including 3-5 in the Big Ten, marking the programs first losing season since going 5-7 in 2009 under Rich Rodriguez. The 51-year-old Harbaugh has led the 49ers to a 43-19-1 mark over his four seasons. That includes a Super Bowl loss to the Baltimore Ravens following the 2012 season. The 49ers also made the NFC Championship Game in the 2011 and 2013 seasons, losing to the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks, respectively. This season, though, the 49ers are 7-8, and have already been eliminated from postseason contention. Harbaugh, who has one year left on his contract with the 49ers, coached at Stanford for four seasons (2007-10) and at San Diego for three (2004-06). He led the Cardinal to an Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech in his final season at Stanford before leaving to coach the 49ers. Harbaugh played 177 games as a quarterback in the NFL, beginning his 15-year career with the Chicago Bears and also spending time with the Colts, Ravens, Chargers and Panthers. Before that, he was a standout QB at Michigan under legendary coach Bo Schembechler. He played for the Wolverines from 1983-86. Harbaugh is the son of longtime college coach Jack Harbaugh and the brother of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. George Bell Jersey . It was my fifth straight year attending and, as always, there are many interesting matters discussed as it pertains to the use of statistics in sports. Clayton Richard Blue Jays Jersey . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-roy-halladay-jersey/ .What they got was a bevy of players chipping in to pick up the slack.Josh Smith scored 18 points and James Harden added 17 as the Rockets used a balanced scoring effort to outlast the Mavericks for a 99-94 victory.A brutal hit while having a punt blocked sidelined San Diegos Mike Scifres with a broken left collarbone.In came placekicker Nick Novak, charged with one of the most important roles in special teams. He hadnt punted since high school and barely practices it as a pro.Yet he was more than comfortable with the challenge.I can do it, Novak said after punts of 27, 33, 45, 51, 46 and 38 yards in the loss to New England on Dec. 7. I cant do it on Mikes level, but I feel I can certainly get the job done. The pressures not there, because Im sure the expectation is, just catch it and kick it and get it out. ... If you mess up, Well, he doesnt punt. If he does well, its more of a Wow kind of thing.There really was no pressure there.Ah, but usually there is tons of pressure on a placekicker replacing a punter in a game, and vice versa. The only similarities between the jobs are that both players make a living with their foot, and their specialties are critical to field position and scoring.Because there are so many differences in the mechanics of each job, rarely do the kickers and punters practice the others role.Puntings very linear, and your swing is more straight up and through the ball, explained Minnesota field goal kicker Blair Walsh. Kicking, youre coming around it a little bit more and youre worried about a plant.Still, as a pro, Walsh has studied what the Vikings Jeff Locke and other NFL punters do, and believes he could handle the assignment. He even spends some time on Fridays working on punting.You could use the similarities between the two, whether its locking your foot out or having an explosive motion through it, he said, adding that overdoing it must be avoided.Theres definitely similarities you could carry over to each position to make you successful at both, Walsh said. Ive been around it long enough where Ive seen a lot of good punters do the right technique, so you sort of emulate it a little bit in your mind.But I think the biggest thing would just be getting used to the live rush coming at you.Indeed, the rush to get to the punter is a sprint, entirely different and probably more dangerous than attempts to block field goals.While NFL coaching staffs and personnel people try to account for all situations, an in-game injury or illness to a placekicker or punter often falls outside their preparation. San Diego was extremely fortunate that Novak was so successful; the Chargers have a similar history because Scifres did the placement work in the 2011 opener when Nick Kaeding injured his knee.Thats also how Novak wound up in San Diego.Generally, though, its a desperate spot when one oof those guys goes down in a game. Devon Travis Blue Jays Jersey. I was 70 per cent in college, which is plenty enough to get you cut in the NFL, Saints punter Thomas Morstead said of his placekicking. But Id be a very serviceable backup, I would think, if they need me in a pinch.I can kick it a long ways, but whether it goes between the sticks, you know. ...Theres the rub.Theyre so different, but Im going to say its probably more difficult filling in as a field goal kicker just because theres not much room for error, Jets punter Ryan Quigley said. Punting, youve got the whole field to work with. Its like, when youre punting, you can just say, OK, were going to punt it down the middle and hopefully it stays in bounds and you get a good 40 yards out of it.Punters and placekickers find good reasons not to practice the other guys art. San Franciscos Phil Dawson, now in his 16th season making field goals and extra points, works on punting occasionally. He notes the more I do it, the worse I get.But he points out with a sharp jab that punter Andy Lee trying Dawsons specialty would be worse.Some teams even had other players as the backup punter or placekicker. On the Saints, its second-string quarterback Luke McCown behind Morstead. For Philadelphia, wide receiver Riley Cooper backs up placekicker Cody Parkey.Perhaps the patron saint of replacement kickers is Craig Hentrich, who punted for 16 NFL seasons. Hentrich was a standout at both jobs at Notre Dame, won a Super Bowl as a punter with Green Bay and played in another with Tennessee.He went 3 for 3 on field goals of 49, 34 and 33 yards in the 2003 opener after placekicker Joe Nedney suffered a season-ending knee injury. Hentrich hadnt made a field goal since 1995.Ive seen some punters, actually, step in and have good games kicking when the kicker went down. The most noticeable Ive ever seen is ... Hentrich, Saints placekicker Shayne Graham said. But he was also a respected kicker at Notre Dame in college because he did both, so he had the background for it.Nobody does both in the NFL anymore, except in a pinch.So if Quigley gets called on to replace Folk during Sundays finale, whats his philosophy?Shoot, Id tell them to back it up and put me out there from anywhere, he said with a laugh. Nah, thats the way I think because Id just crank it and use my leg strength. But who knows where its going?___AP Pro Football Writers Teresa M. Walker, Dave Campbell and Rob Maaddi, and Sports Writers Janie McCauley, Joe Kay, Dennis Waszak Jr., Bernie Wilson and Brett Martel contributed to this story.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '