ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is pushing for a change that would allow football players to enter the NFL draft after one year in college.

“My first proposal is that we put this decision to ‘go or stay’ in the hands of the individual and his family, not in the form of an NFL, NFLPA or NCAA rule while allowing the player to return to college football if he does not sign,” Harbaugh wrote in an open letter to the football community Thursday.

Currently, players are not eligible until three NFL regular seasons have begun and ended following either their graduation from high school or graduation of the class with which they entered high school, whichever is earlier.

“The proposal described above would allow the individual to pursue his dream as a student and as a professional athlete in the time frame that best suits his best interests of his own free will and ability,” Harbaugh wrote.

A policy in the collective bargaining agreement — which runs through the 2030 season — between the NFL and the players’ union prohibits players who have completed only their first or second years in college to be drafted. That rule has not been challenged for nearly 17 years. The league and the union, meanwhile, have shown no inclination of revising the rule.

“We have great respect for coach Harbaugh and appreciate that he offered his opinion,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett sued the NFL in 2003, shortly after being suspended for receiving extra benefits and misleading investigators, to challenge it.

Clarett was ruled eligible for the 2004 draft by a U.S. District Judge in New York, but a federal appeals court put that ruling on hold and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene. In 2005, the Denver Broncos drafted Clarett in the third round, cut him before the season, and he didn’t play in the NFL.

Clarett, in a telephone interview, said he does not expect the NFL and NFLPA to support Harbaugh’s proposal because the system in place benefits their interests. He hopes, though, that the conversation about possible change continues.

“The problem is, student-athletes don’t have a union or voice of any sort,” Clarett told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s hard to have these important conversations when there’s no one representing student-athletes as a group. I love Jim Harbaugh for what he’s trying to do, but his job is to coach football at Michigan. He doesn’t have the time or the legal expertise to combat the NFL or NFLPA on this issue.”

Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, drafted fifth overall by Miami last month, said at the NFL scouting combine that he agrees with the policy in place.

“I think the three-year rule is good,” he said earlier this year in Indianapolis. “It’s different with basketball and baseball, I’d say, only because now you’re getting hit by guys of these nature. These are grown men.”