Alabama coach Nick Saban might be beating Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh when it comes to national championships, but Harbaugh appears to be winning the popularity contest.
According to a new report, Harbaugh is more popular among millennial males than Saban. His popularity has picked up along with the attention placed toward the Michigan coach.
Harbaugh is much more popular than Alabama coach Nick Saban among millennial males, according to The Q Scores Company, a New York-based company that measures the awareness and appeal of personalities. Furthermore, at least some data indicates that Harbaugh is on the verge of having his celebrity transcend the sports world with those same young men between the ages of 18 and 34.
“Harbaugh is making a significantly stronger impact than Saban among younger males, and that seems to be his objective,” Henry Schafer, executive vice president of The Q Scores Company, said in a telephone interview Friday. “And, Harbaugh is on the cusp of being an iconic figure among the general population in the same demographic.”
It has almost become a fun game to compare these two ego-filled coaches. They are on the opposite sides of many issues, including satellite camps. Unlike many college coaches, Harbaugh isn’t afraid to go after Saban.
And while Saban has developed a reputation as a stoic workaholic, Harbaugh has tried to be a more fun, relatable coach. He’s done wacky things like take part in a rap video and have a sleepover at a recruit’s house.
Harbaugh was asked about his Q score before throwing out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game. He pretty much avoided talking about his popularity and his answer was more about football camps than anything.
“I don’t know about ‘Q ratings,’ but I do know that it was priceless to coach and teach 15 to 20,000 youngsters at those camps,” Harbaugh told The Associated Press, just before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a recent Chicago Cubs game. “Obviously, we didn’t do all those camps just for recruiting because all of those youngsters aren’t coming to Michigan. But they were all introduced to and learned more about the great game of football.”
If you were to take any time to think about this sort of thing, this makes perfect sense. Harbaugh appeals to high school kids and the 20-something bros. Saban, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to care that he’s viewed as the guy always whining about the rules. Both approaches seem to be working, however, and we all are impatiently awaiting the first matchup between these two programs.
[ESPN]
