I love Jim Harbaugh. I make no apologies. I understand that he can be polarizing although I don’t really understand the level of vitriol that he attracts. People describe him as quirky or odd. He is actually well read, intellectual and just not your typical head football coach. He’s not ‘your quirky uncle Jim’. He’s different but in a good way, not an odd way. I’m proud to call him an alumnus and was proud to call him our coach.
He was at Michigan when Bob, my husband, and I attended. He was a good guy. Football required too much time for most of the players to actually join a fraternity but many of them attended a lot of the fraternity parties on the weekends. When they attended the Sigma Nu parties and got too rowdy, Bob, as fraternity president, could find Jim at the party and he would ask the offending players to calm down or leave. Problem usually solved. Jim would occasionally show up at a Chi Omega date party or other events and was great about posing for photos, as the Michigan quarterback.
We saw Jim at a Garth Brooks concert in Chicago some years after graduation. Bob was a bit of a fan boy when he approached him and his date to say hello. Bob asked his date if she was a “Theta”. Jim had dated a beautiful Theta when he was in Ann Arbor. It still makes me cringe a little as I imagine Bob’s embarrassment as the woman dryly said no. Luckily, I was back in my seat, unassociated with this particular mortification. Jim was playing for the Bears at the time, so I don’t blame Bob for wanting to connect with Jim Harbaugh. We’ve always been fans. But in our household, I’m his biggest fan.
We were back home in Michigan when the press conference announcing his return aired on live television interrupting regular daytime programming in Western Michigan. I remember the goosebumps and tears in my eyes that I got as our conquering hero was announced and took the podium. I knew he had other options and was grateful that he had agreed to return. Everyone was so excited about his return. Nobody understood the depth of the challenge that he had agreed to undertake, perhaps not even Coach.
My support for Coach Harbaugh never waivered. Not when he proved to be a disruptor to the NCAA with his Satellite Camps, his groundbreaking international summer trips, his early support for social justice initiatives, his constant support for Colin Kaepernick or his controversial views on revenue sharing with all college athletes. It also did not waiver when the program floundered during the Covid year. It has never waivered. I have the Twitter receipts to prove it.
It’s only fitting, to me, that I was in NRG stadium to celebrate the fitting end to the Jim Harbaugh fairy tale. As the confetti rained down, deep in my heart, I knew he was leaving, yet I am an eternal optimist and I hoped that he would stay. 
I hoped that Warde Manuel would prove to be more creative than he had been in the past and would get him signed. This week, my optimism was proven false as Coach Harbaugh signed with the San Diego Chargers and Michigan signed Sheronne Moore as our new Head Football Coach. I’m excited that they made that choice. I became a Patriots fan for Tom Brady, I’m guessing that I will be watching a few San Diego Charger games in the near future.
If anyone is wanting me to comment on the NCAA investigations or alleged cheating clouds that hang over the program, I don’t have much to say about that. I personally admit to a bias that holds that the NCAA doesn’t like disruptors or innovators who speak out about revenue sharing, paying athletes and push the envelop each season. I think that was a bigger reason for Coach leaving than even the dream of winning a Super Bowl; to get out of the target of the NCAA and his B1G peers. I think all teams could be found guilty of some violations at any given point if the NCAA decided to do a deep dig or if their strongest rival decided to hire private investigators to find violations. I have bought plenty of Natty gear and have no worries about anything being vacated.
Meanwhile, I have overwhelming appreciation for the 9 years and the National Championship that Coach Harbaugh gave to our beloved University of Michigan. Thank you, Coach, from the bottom of my maize and blue heart. You are truly a one of a kind Michigan Man. Forever Go Blue.