ANN ARBOR, Mich. —Â Perhaps some time away from the sideline has brought Jim Harbaugh back to a place mentally similar to where he was when he first arrived in Ann Arbor in 2015. That Harbaugh was silly, quirky, and always seemed to have a knack of saying something that was due to repeat for a week — or more — on SportsCenter.
But Harbaugh had gotten a little more rigid with the media, though he may be more forthcoming. Though not a lot of fun was necessarily had in many of his media appearances.
Now, upon returning from a three-game suspension, not only is Harbaugh back in season form, but he’s overjoyed after having the program-imposed sabbatical.
“Oh, he was just happy as heck,” senior running back Black Corum said. “Just, as he says, ‘Cool Guy Jim!’ But just seeing him back, we all wanted this win really bad. As he says, winning in the Big Ten is like two wins, one for us and then since they lost, one for us again.
“So it was just great seeing his energy in the locker room after a win. He’s gonna have a good rest of the day and weekend.”
‘Cool Guy Jim?’ That’s a new one.
Ecstatic to be back on the sidelines, Harbaugh is embracing that mentality in a hilarious way as only he can.
“‘Cool Jim! That’s what most people refer to me as, ‘Cool Jim!’ Harbaugh said. “And then as we get closer to the game, somewhere between Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I turn into ‘Dead serious Jim.’
“But yeah, just no better place to be in than in the locker room after you if you win a game and everybody gets in there and it’s just, you think to yourself who could have it better I do, who could have it better than us? I get to coach these guys and these coaches and I was super happy, no doubt about it.”
‘Cool Jim’ and the Michigan football team will now take its show on the road, playing at Nebraska in Week 5. That game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on Fox.