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It seems like it’s been a lifetime since Jim Harbaugh coached in the NFL, as he spent four years coaching the San Francisco 49ers, but has been with his alma mater in Michigan the past five years. And while there’s been talk of Harbaugh given his tutelage of Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco, many forget that he once was in pursuit of one of the NFL’s top talents in Peyton Manning.
Along with his former offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Harbaugh went to Duke to entertain Manning in a private workout, as arranged by Blue Devils’ head coach David Cutcliffe.
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The Athletic put together an oral history of Manning’s free agency tour in 2012 — before he ultimately signed with the Denver Broncos, where he won his second Super Bowl — which was Harbaugh’s second year coaching at the pro-level. That was pre-Kaepernick, as Harbaugh rolled with Alex Smith — a former Urban Meyer acolyte from Utah — so he was looking at all options to make his roster that much better.
According to Manning, the meeting was anything but usual.
“I remember this — I remember weird things — we were leaving to go throw and Mrs. Cutcliffe, who I’ve known forever, just a sweet lady, she said, ‘Would y’all like anything to eat before you go?'” Manning recalled. “It was one of those when somebody offers you, you kind of get the feel maybe she really didn’t want to make you something to eat, but she felt like she had to offer, that kind of thing. So I was like, ‘No, thanks, Mrs. Cutcliffe, I’m fine,’ and Greg Roman’s like, ‘I’m fine, Thank you for offering.’ And coach Cut’s like, ‘I’m fine, honey.’
“And I remember Harbaugh just said, ‘Yeah, I’ll have a PB&J.'”
And that was just the beginning. As it got a little weirder, Manning says.
“So he had his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and we went over to Duke,” Manning said. “There were some media around Duke. The best thing about Duke, which I didn’t really understand coming from Tennessee, is that it’s a private school. You got to have a key card to get in, and nobody can just pop into the indoor facility. I used to go back to Knoxville and work out, and anybody could just show up. It’s a public facility. At Duke, Cut and I could have intense workouts and not be interrupted. So, we told Coach Harbaugh and Coach Roman that it’s private, but still, there are trees out there and, ‘Could there be people in the trees?'”
Peyton’s older brother, Cooper Manning, was in attendance, and noted that the ruse seemed to have worked — but not in a constructive way. Secrecy reigned so supreme that it made it difficult for Harbaugh to properly evaluate the younger Manning.
“There was this CIA feel to a football acquisition,” Manning said. “Harbaugh and his coordinator went to his workout and watched from his car. I mean, what can you tell from a car?”
Eventually, the two seemed to have played catch, getting a better evaluation where Manning was coming off of a major injury and subsequent surgery. While Harbaugh seemed to be all-in, 49ers owner Jed York was skeptical of how much time the franchise would be able to get out of the former star.
For Harbaugh, he defended his choice to place a food order at the Cutcliffe’s house, noting that he felt like it would have been rude if he abstained.
“I always feel like, at least in my mom’s house, when she asks if you want something, she’s offended if you don’t let her make you something,” Harbaugh said. “I do love PB&J. Absolutely.”
Regardless, these are the types of stories we’re used to hearing about the Michigan football headman, although less in frequency in recent years.