ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Like any Monday around noon, Jim Harbaugh sauntered down the staircase behind the barriers that separate the private quarters within Schembechler Hall and the Towsley Museum, where the media meets with him weekly. He strode to the podium as if nothing was awry and had a loose smile, waiting for the larger-than-usual gaggle to start their line of questioning.
It didn’t take long before Harbaugh stopped the questions about Michigan football’s alleged illegal sign-stealing dead in its tracks. With an NCAA investigation underway (but no notice of allegations), Harbaugh cannot publicly address the situation beyond the statement he issued on Oct. 19.
“Yeah, I’m not gonna get into — I got a one-track mind,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not gonna be speculating, can let others speculate that on the various speculation that’s out there. It would be unfair to the team to not just be coaching the team.”
Like in July, when it was revealed the day before Big Ten media days that the NCAA was looking to suspend Harbaugh for four games due to another investigation, the Michigan head coach insisted he wanted to be able to air out the truth, but can’t because he’s bound by the NCAA’s gag order.
“I’m with you. I’m with you in the situation, but it’s — you just have to let it play out, cooperate with the investigation, and then watch how it plays out,” Harbaugh said. “That’s but the speculation part, I mean, as I said, just too much of a one-track mind and coaching the team to be able to engage in every piece of speculation that seems to be any and everywhere.”
The questions persisted. Continued, even after a team spokesperson told reporters that there was a limit on what could be said or answered. It didn’t matter. More creative ways to get inside Harbaugh’s brain were floated up before Harbaugh knocked them down. Ultimately, Harbaugh told everyone what he would prefer to discuss: the task at hand this week.
“I can talk about the football game this Saturday,” Harbaugh said. “I can talk about Purdue and the vibes and the preparation and where it stands today. It doesn’t seem like you’re interested in that. But that’s what I could talk about.”
The only glimpse that was given was that Harbaugh is coping with Michigan becoming the main character in college football by being engaged in football. When it comes to having his oft-repeated ‘one-track mind,’ Harbaugh invoked a historical Scottish warrior, the main character of the movie Braveheart.
That’s what galvanizes him and keeps him going while the world at large roots for him to fall on his sword.
“Yeah. I just channel my inner William Wallace,” Harbaugh said. “And that’s the visual I think of, keep a one-track mind.”
Certainly, Michigan football fans hope that his story turns out better than it did for Wallace, even though that’s the ending that many outside of the program are hoping for.