As a die-hard Michigan Wolverines fan, I couldn't have been more excited about the news when Jim Harbaugh took the throne as the football program's new head coach. It gave me hope that Michigan would be able to turn around their misfortunes over the past few years and get back to the golden age. In the beginning, Harbaugh was crazy social: on December 30 he went to the Wolverines basketball game against Northwestern and chatted with fans; he even took selfies with students! He was the positive face of U of M for awhile, but now things have taken a bit of a turn since the football season has gotten closer and closer. Instead of being giddy and social, he now refers to the actions of he and his team to be related to a "submarine."
Back on July 1, Colin Cowherd called Jim on the phone to interview him about the upcoming season and what he was doing to prepare for all the tough teams on their schedule. What the audience and Colin received was probably the most half-assed interview in all of sports. Harbaugh said nothing of use, and his tone of voice sounded like he was too busy watching game film to focus on the phone call. I love the fact that Jim is putting in the hours to make his team successful, but don't disrespect a guy trying to publicize you.
This past week, The Big Ten Network was doing their tour of every Big Ten school and looking at a live practice, as well as interviewing the coaches and players. When BTN approached Harbaugh about it, at first he declined them coming at all. Let's look at the statistics, out of the 112 times BTN has done this at schools, zero have declined the interview. Harbaugh, this is your first year at a prestigious school, and putting it lightly, that's BOLD. He must have a deep-seated hatred for the media. Eventually, Michigan opened its doors and BTN did their special, but Harbaugh still did not give his interview. The funny thing about all of this is that Michigan football is one of the most talked about programs in the country, because Harbaugh isn't telling the media anything. I guess not caring about the people makes the people love you more.
As much as I question the thinking behind Jim's actions, I love it. It's something new, and it has the Michigan fanbase in a mixture of "what are you doing?" and "I love this guy!" at the same time. The old saying goes "Secrets don't make friends," but by the looks of it, Harbaugh has gained a lot of friends in the past couple of months.
It's entertaining I will admit, but at the end of the day what I care about is winning games. Luckily, football is around the corner. I won't get upset with Harbaugh's Wolverines until they blow a game against an opponent they should destroy. Week 1 is Utah, and you know I'll be watching Jim. Go Blue!
