Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh joined ESPN’s Colin Cowherd for what appeared to be an innocent interview on Wednesday morning, but it could not have gone much worse.
Harbaugh, who isn’t exactly the easiest guy to deal with, seemed to be on the defensive the entire time. He provided very little insight and stonewalled Cowherd on a number of open-ended questions such as “Is your day much different coaching college vs. pro football?” The entire cringe-worthy segment is worth listening to.
Toward the end, Harbaugh criticized Cowherd for firing so many questions at him. That opened the door for Cowherd to vent his frustrations.
“You’re not giving me a ton to work with, coach,” he said. “I just want to find something out about Jim Harbaugh the human being. … I want Jim Harbaugh, the guy.”
Cowherd then noted that most other coaches from big college programs — Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Steve Sarkisian — are happy to sell their program. He then cut Harbaugh loose.
“That’s the clunkiest interview I’ve ever had,” Cowherd said afterword.
Whether you like Cowherd or not, it’s hard to take Harbaugh’s side in this situation. The line of questioning was incredibly light-hearted and fair, and Harbaugh seemed like he wanted nothing to do with it from the start. We haven’t seen a college football interview that awkward since Jimbo Fisher got bent out of shape over this question last year.
Video via The Big Lead
