The Most Interesting Things Jim Harbaugh Said: Oct. 24, 2022

Even though Michigan State isn't very good this year, everyone is still geeked about this weekend's nighttime matchup in Ann Arbor, including Jim Harbaugh. The Wolverines head coach spoke about the Spartans, the rivalry, his defense and even James Franklin's "whining" after last week's halftime tunnel dust up.

"That's a really good team; dangerous in a lot of ways. I think the quarterback is really good."

You've got to love it when Jim Harbaugh is just being nice.

In all seriousness, Michigan State is not a really good team. They aren't very dangerous. And Payton Thorne is not really good. But Harbaugh always shows respect. Most coaches do, but he really seems to go out of his way to give love where it might not even be due.

On the flip side, he did touch on a couple of things that U-M fans and players need to be wary of. He mentioned the receiving corps as being possibly they best they'll have faced so far. I can get on board with that. Keon Coleman and Jayden Reed are dynamic and talented. If slept on, they can hurt you. Harbaugh also mentioned Michigan State's opportunistic defensive players who have a knack for taking the ball away. On paper, the unit is not good. But if they do create some turnovers using the "Peanut Punch" or simply by being feisty and scrappy, they could hang around, which is every Michigan fan's worst nightmare.

"Our guys really want to win this. I'm not going to lie to you, I really want to win it."

You can see it and feel it in Harbaugh's voice when he says the line above — he freakin means it. He knows that he's 0-2 against Mel Tucker. He knows that he and his Wolverines lost to a team when favored by more than 20, albeit during the weird 2020/COVID season. He certainly remembers losing in East Lansing last year after being up by 16 late in the third quarter. He and his boys want this one. Badly.

Harbaugh spoke for several minutes about preparing for this one and being ready for a contested battle. Harbaugh isn't one for overplayed cliches but even he used the, "throw out the records," for this weekend's matchup. No matter what, MSU is going to treat this game like its Super Bowl, especially in Ann Arbor. So even though Michigan is favored by a lot, they have to want it, and judging by Harbaugh's demeanor, they understand that and they do.

"Every team has a get-back coach. We've instituted a get-to coach — get to the ball. I've taken on the responsibility of the get-to coach."

I liked this whole dialogue from Harbaugh. At the end of the day, he is a football guy, through and through, and when he talks about something like pursuing on defense, you can feel it. I have no doubt that his players feel it too. When he laughs and says, "I've taken on the responsibility of the get-to coach," it's real. You can hear the room laugh and a smirk appears on Harbaugh's face because he loves the idea of actually directing his guys to "do more football" harder. He talks about enlisting other get-to coaches as well, which also makes him smile. When Harbaugh is into something, he's all the way in — this seems to be one of those "somethings" that just helps with culture, approach and ideology, especially with a defense that can really run.

"I've really got bigger fish to fry than Coach [James] Franklin's opinion on our halftime tunnel."

Ooooh, snap!

Since Michigan was just on its bye, we never got to hear from Jim Harbaugh after James Franklin complained about The Big House tunnel. Franklin claimed that it's too problematic and that something bad is going to happen as teams share a tunnel heading into the locker rooms at halftime. In reality, it was his Penn State team and Franklin himself that seemed to be stirring the pot a little over a week ago, and Harbaugh knows it.

Harbaugh proceeded to call Penn State's behavior "sophomoric" and suggested just going into the locker room rather in a very matter of fact/duh kind of way, which I love. He also called Franklin the ringleader of the situation and then said he doesn't have time to worry about that kind of...."whining" with some stank on the perfect word choice.

This is the Jim Harbaugh that talked about Ryan Day being born on third base. This is the Jim Harbaugh that used to roast SEC coaches verbally or via Twitter after they got their feathers ruffled by something that he did. This is the Jim Harbaugh that asked Pete Carroll what his deal was after blasting the No. 9 Trojans by 34. This is the same Jim Harbaugh that damn near karate chopped Jim Schwartz on the back after his 49ers beat the Detroit Lions.

This is the Jim Harbaugh that all Michigan fans love to see and, with the Wolverines sitting at 7-0 and rolling, he's probably going to be sticking around for a while.