NinjaDMM

July 1st, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^

That was definitely the most awkward interview ever. Colin at the beginning just jumped into a question, which he always does, to be fair, and Harbaugh seemed annoyed by not answering and saying Hi Colin, how are you. From there, downhill, haha. It was hilariously bad.



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RHammer - SNRE 98

July 1st, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^

recruits are thinking about two days before the 4th of July?  Here's a stab...

1. skimpy bathing suits;

2. beach/fireworks/parades/family/ etc.

3. other

....

157. random sports radio interview between two guys that don't like each other.

 

this may be a topic of discussion today, but it has no staying power as a "story"; no one is going to still be talking about this in August, or November, or February.

moving on...

BroadShouldersBlue

July 1st, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^

Cowherd is obviously a douche, but I don't think Harbaugh should have done the interview. If I'm watching/listening to the show, JH comes off as kind of a prick. For people with context (Cowherd hating Harbaugh to M) it makes sense. For a more broad audience though, JH comes off like a moody a-hole. I dunno, I guess I'm happy he made Cowherd uncomfortable but I don't really see a net positive.

BroadShouldersBlue

July 1st, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^

1) I would argue that Hoke wasn't exactly great with the media either, albeit more in a bumbling idiot type of way.

2) I think we all agree he should just go win games.

3) I agree media skills aren't essential to coaching, but purposefully bombing an interview because you're mad at the guy but not directly addressing it is odd. Again I don't think this is negative, but I definitely don't see how this SPECIFIC INTERVIEW had a positive effect on the program. 

NFG

July 1st, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^

My take. Harbaugh doesn't care for Cowherd. Hearing Harbaugh on Eisen, Jim actually asked a lot of questions to Rich, gave insightful answers and was very engaging. This interview was very uncomfortable. Jim gave one line or even one word answers to question that Cowherd was using to try to generate some conversations with. Cowherd tried, but I have to believe that there is some resentment on Jim's behalf towards Cowherd, so he probably did the interview to spite him or because his PR team begged him to. On another note, if you are a recruit, and you choose Meyer over Harbaugh because of that interview, please by all means do. If that is how you make life changing decisions, you probably are suited for a Jim Harbaugh program. 

wahooverine

July 1st, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^

Sounds to me like Harbaugh has no respect for that panty waste. However this is spun Harbaugh is no fake. He is never putting on a performance, just being himself.  Harbaugh gave him the interview he deserves.  Why Harbaugh even agreed to do the interview is the real question.

Zarniwoop

July 1st, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^

Honestly, if I heard a manager that I was considering working for do an interview where he was a giant douchebag, it would get my attention.

No one wants to work with a douchebag.

I just don't understand this. I think this is when his competiveness gets the best of him and does him/us no favors.  This was an opportunity. Even on a fluff show like Cowherd it was an opportunity to sell the program. 16-18 year old kids are influenced by EVERYTHING.

kvnryn

July 1st, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^

Haven't had a chance to listen yet, but a co-worker of mine (FSU fan) watched it again and said the interview appeared to go south when Cowherd said, "the Big Ten feels like a buy." JH possibly misunderstood that and thought Cowherd meant that every week in the Big Ten is like a "bye," but what he really meant was that it had momentum and was a "buy" rather than a "sell." After that exchange, everything went very poorly. Can't say for sure without listening myself, but thought that was an interesting possibility.

BornSinner

July 1st, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^

That interview was god awful from all sides. 

 

Harbaugh would rather be doing anything else and Cowherd just started off with the most mundane question without any intro. 

 

Then again, Harbaugh isn't really much to listen to in interviews. Even his Rich Eisen interviews are boring as fuck. 

Don

July 1st, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^

From Sports Illustrated, September 14, 1981

"O.K., from a distance Bo comes on like a yahoo. And that's Bo's public image. He has had horrible problems with the press, which has this nasty habit of wanting to talk to him when he loses, his mother's advice notwithstanding. But even if the media's timing were better, it probably wouldn't make much difference, because Bo hates the press. Not just a little. A lot. The Voice of Michigan Football, Bob Ufer, says he has tried to get Schembechler to be nicer to the media. "But he told me," says Ufer, " 'Bob, if I win, I don't need the press, and if I lose, they can't help me.' " Ufer defends Schembechler, whose record at Michigan over 12 years is 114-21-3; Bo's teams have won the Big Ten title twice and tied for it seven times.

Says Ufer, "Bo has two categories of things in his life: what matters and what doesn't matter. What matters is football. What doesn't matter is everything else. Bo is the kind of guy who is so dedicated that he doesn't realize how he's coming off." So while some coaches like to go out and drink with sportswriters, Bo would prefer to break out in warts.

Until a couple of years ago, he would routinely storm out of press conferences, kick reporters out of the sessions ("Don't be offended," says one of Bo's friends. "He'd kick Millie out, too"), make himself unavailable and order his players not to talk. Talking very softly once at a press conference, he was asked to speak up. "I'm speaking as loudly as I can," said Bo softly and arrogantly. And in a memorable set-to on Oct. 1, 1979, Schembechler gave an absolutely unnecessary push to a publicity-seeking college newspaper reporter.

Yet too much is read into all this. As Don Canham, athletic director at Michigan, says, "Bo is oblivious to life."

Michigan Arrogance

July 1st, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^

As usual, Don gets it right.

I'd just add that, "we shouldn't attribute to malice what we can attribute to incompetance." Except replace incompetance with indifference. Jim obvisouly doesn't care about these interviews, he cares about football. It's one of those things that are in his contract, so he was told he had to but he knows it really doesn't matter.

Zarniwoop

July 1st, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^

No one gave a shit about sports interviews back then.  It couldn't go viral and make you look like captain asshat within a matter of minutes.

The amount of shit kids care about, pay attention to and use as the basis of their decisions today would be unimaginable to the Bo of the 1980s.

TyTrain32

July 1st, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^

Not saying it isnt possible, just that this is 40 years later. We all know exactly what Coach said 5 minutes after it happened. Back then people had to write a story, get it edited, print it, then people had to go somewhere to buy a copy or wait a few days for it to be delivered. Belichicks players dont have a choice whether or not they play for him. Teenagers have a choice to go wherever they want. Apples to oranges buddy, nice try.



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Don

July 1st, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^

Which is why I've always believed that Bo was fortunate to have coached before the advent of the internet and social media. If he'd had to deal with Facebook rumors and players tweeting their dissatisfactions with the coaching staff and endless MGoBlog posts analyzing and criticizing his third-down strategies and punting decisions, his bad ticker would have exploded by 1975.

I'm not endorsing Bo's attitude toward the press, nor Harbaugh's apparent disdain for Cowherd (haven't watched it and don't plan to); in general, I don't believe it benefits any coach to have acrimonious relations with the media. The old-school expression is "don't ever pick fights with somebody who buys printing ink by the barrel" and I believe it's true with respect to modern digital media.

However, like Bo, Harbaugh simply doesn't give a shit what people think of him, whether they're in the media or not. He's going to do what he wants, and other people have to deal with it. Unsuccessful coaches can't get away with that attitude, but winners always have and always will. Victories buy you a lot of leeway.

 

mGrowOld

July 1st, 2015 at 12:05 PM ^

NIce try at an insult.  But pointing out that his mentor treated your apparently beloved national media as unimportant to his task at hand and that this may have played a part in Harbaugh's distain somehow qualifies one as being so old as to be unaware of the importance of social media is laughable.

Viral that.

jg2112

July 1st, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^

Regarding Colin's comment about 18 year old kids who heard the interview, I'd have been pretty sad with my life if I was a high schooler listening to sports talk radio while on summer vacation.

Let's see - beach, basketball court, or listening to Colin Cowherd?