Ohio State fans love to hate on Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh but have a softer spot for his brother, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Maybe it has something to do with beating up on his younger brother in the NFL and adding to the misery of the khaki wearing, awkward press conference holding Wolverine head man. Or, maybe it has more to do with a few former Ohio State players being drafted and on the Ravens’ roster.
Either way, Buckeye fans don’t invoke a gag reflex when they hear John as opposed to Jim speak.
And so it was with another sound bite we got from John (not Jim) this past week. At his media availability session this past Wednesday, the elder Harbaugh started what seemed like a campaign to get the Big Ten to play football as soon as possible.
“Free the Big Ten, Free the Big Ten,” said Harbaugh. “Let’s go, let’s go play some football. Let’s get Michigan and Ohio State and all those great teams out there and play some football. Michigan has zero positive tests in August. They are doing a great job with their protocols. And those guys want to play.”
"Free the Big Ten." #Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh making it clear where he stands regarding the #BigTen playing football. @WMAR2News #Michigan #OhioState #Terps @B1Gfootball pic.twitter.com/Jiqk44lQil
— Shawn Stepner (@StepnerWMAR) September 2, 2020
John is of course beating a drum that is near and dear to his little brother’s heart. The Big Ten voted (supposedly) to postpone the fall season over COVID-19 concerns and Jim Harbaugh has been a proponent of moving forward. Michigan’s testing results have been extremely positive and he and other coaches believe the monitoring and protocols set up for the student-athletes provide a safe enough environment to move forward. That includes Ohio State.
The Ravens head coach went on to say that players and families should have the option of playing or not rather than taking the opportunity completely away.
“And for anyone that wants to opt out, they can,” John Harbaugh continued. “Their families should have that choice, just like the Southeastern Conference gave the players and families … that choice, and most of them decided to play.”
In fact, one of the biggest criticisms of Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren’s desire to play in the spring is the fact that his son is still set to play this fall with Mississipi State, an SEC team.
But hey, who’s keeping track? Just the whole world it seems.
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