Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan has been the gift that has kept on giving. As rumors swirl that Harbaugh may be leaving for the NFL, he has denied them in a ridiculous way.
As the team preps for their Orange Bowl appearance against Florida State, Ryan Glasgow, defensive tackle for the Wolverines said that Harbaugh put the rumor to rest.
“He said (the NFL rumors) are lies made up by our enemies.”
The idea of a rival coach spreading these types of ideas isn’t that out of the norm; in fact, it could possibly be used as a recruiting tool. And that’s what Harbaugh insinuated further:
Harbaugh: I'm not leaving Michigan. Not even considering it. A lot of this talk is coming from our enemies, from coaches, you know the names
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) December 14, 2016
Harbaugh: You know the top three (coaches) I'm talking about. We know them as jive turkeys…. That's the way it is.
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) December 14, 2016
Harbaugh dropping that bomb on those coaches is something that just never happens. Hard to emphasize how rare that is.
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) December 14, 2016
Jive turkeys!!! Jim Harbaugh is a weird dude. Offensive lineman Erik Magnuson has bought into Harbaugh’s message and believes what his head coach has to say.
“He said he’s staying here, he ain’t going nowhere, a lot of it, unfortunately, is just distractions caused by — some of it’s by other teams. And it hurts in recruiting, I think. If they’re saying ‘Jim Harbaugh’s going to the NFL, some recruits will think there’s no stability in the coaching job at Michigan.
“A lot of it is created for a distraction (for) recruiting. I can’t see him going anywhere, this is where he wants to be.”
A lot of this is for recruiting, no doubt. If opposing coaches can put doubt into the minds of recruits as to where Harbaugh will be in a year or two, that could go a long way. And if they flip just one recruit, the misinformation campaign would have been worth it. And Harbaugh is working against that too; coaches leave all the time after insisting they’re not leaving right up until their announced departure.
So we’ll see what happens, and we can only hope this leads to more outdated insults from America’s crazy Midwestern uncle.
