Wolverine Digest

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Jim Harbaugh’s Tweets

Michigan's head football coach never shied away from taking on his critics via social media.
Christopher Breiler|
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Jim Harbaugh’s Tweets
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Jim Harbaugh’s Tweets

Jim Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor with the intention of putting Michigan Football back on the map. From rap videos to his antics during recruiting visits, Harbaugh made sure that Michigan was the topic of the college football conversation one way or another. At the time, Harbaugh was also quite active on Twitter - sharing everything from his run-ins with celebrities to his trips around the world with his players. He would also sometimes use the platform to clap back at his critics, including those within the Big Ten conference itself.

With that, we travel back in time to revisit some of Jim Harbaugh’s most memorable tweets since arriving in Ann Arbor.

The awkward interview - 2015

During the summer of 2015, Harbaugh joined Colin Cowherd for a phone interview on Cowherd's ESPN Show 'The Herd'.  The interview immediately became awkward when Cowherd asked Harbaugh about being a pushover - leading Harbaugh to essentially check out for the rest of the interview.

Big Sean makes an appearance - 2015

Following Michigan's 49-16 victory over Rutgers in the Big House, Big Sean made an appearance in the Michigan locker room to address the team.  As a native of Detroit, the rapper has never shied away from his love for all things Michigan.

Spartan fans welcome Harbaugh - 2016

Jim Harbaugh's first game against the Spartans as Michigan's head football coach was memorable to say the least.  With Michigan in a position to seal the victory and Harbaugh in a position to go 1-0 against the hated in-state rival, a routine punt play turned disastrous - "trouble with the snap" was born.

At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Harbaugh was en route to visit a highly-rated in-state kicking recruit (Quinn Nordin) when he noticed a sign welcoming him to Nordin's neighborhood.

Though the loss was surely painful, Harbaugh took the reminder in stride.

Harbaugh claps back at the SEC - 2016

Shortly after Jim Harbaugh announced he would be holding a spring practice at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, during spring break, the Southeastern Conference began pushing for the NCAA "to prohibit college football teams from holding spring practice during spring break."

The timing of the efforts from the SEC did not go unnoticed.

Harbaugh's Smart Response - 2016

With coaches beginning to speak out against Harbaugh's spring practices in Florida, Georgia's Kirby Smart joined the party and suggested the NCAA should step in to prevent it.

“I think the NCAA in due time will have to step in,” Smart stated. “I don’t know how it’s going to go down. It’s going to be interesting to see, though.”
“You’ve gotta think about recruiting rules, how are they going to handle those, is it an advantage, disadvantage? Are they gonna let other coaches come to it, are they gonna hold open practices? Do we all come in there and watch them and scout them? If they’re all open practices why don’t we go and watch them. It’s a Pandora’s box of what it’s going to get into, obviously.”

Once again, Harbaugh didn't hold back.

Harbaugh's Suggestion To Butch - 2016

Butch Jones was head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers at the time and decided to chime in on Harbaugh's spring practice plans.  In fact, Jones joined in a twitter conversation with then Arkansas head coach Brett Bielema and Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio - a conversation that discussed the three coaches heading down to Florida to watch the Wolverines practice.  

Rather than focusing on the Wolverines, Harbaugh had some advice for Jones.

Harbaugh takes on Ohio State AD - 2016

With Harbaugh's spring practice intentions becoming the topic of conversation, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith shared his thoughts - taking a slight jab at the Wolverines in the process.

"Is it creative? Does it help from a recruiting and marketing point of view? I get that. If we were jump-starting our program, I’d probably try and do that, too. But we’re not jump-starting our program. We’re in a different place."

Jim Harbaugh didn't hold back in his response.

Harbaugh Responds To Saban - 2016

While Harbaugh was generating buzz around the college football world with his frequent satellite camps across the country, Nick Saban shared his displeasure. 

"I don't know how much it benefits anybody because all the people that say this is creating opportunities for kids, this is all about recruiting," Saban said at the Southeastern Conference's annual meeting. "That's what it's about.  What's amazing to me is somebody didn't stand up and say here's going to be the unintended consequences of what you all are doing."

Harbaugh responded:

Harbaugh takes on Dantonio - 2017

In spite of a loss to the Spartans and an 8-4 record (compared to MSU's 9-3 record), Michigan was selected to participate in the Outback Bowl on New Year's day while the Spartans were selected for the lesser Holiday Bowl on December 28th.

Asked about his thoughts on the bowl selection, Dantonio took a slight jab at the Wolverines.

"The records are what they are," he explained, per Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal. "I'll just continue to focus on beating Michigan."

Not to be outdone, Harbaugh served up a not-so-friendly reminder to Dantonio:

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Christopher Breiler
CHRISTOPHER BREILER

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