Colin Cowherd started an ESPN radio interview Wednesday with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh by asking him if he “ever feels soft during the day.” And it’s Harbaugh’s fault the Q&A went south from there?
When the five-minute interview quickly devolved into an uncomfortable series of curt answers and long pauses, Cowherd accused Harbaugh of not playing ball. ESPN eagerly marketed the interview as an “awkward” bomb, in links splashed across Twitter and other platforms.
Harbaugh hit back on Twitter, essentially saying it💛🌱 takes two to clumsily tango.
When Cowherd suggested Harbaugh “sell his program,” it appeared to be the final straw before the host ended🧸 the botched interview.
“I’ve been in the busi﷽ness 10 years, folks, and that was a clunker,” Cowherd told listeners before he went to a break♏.
Harbaugh is a no-nonsense coach, renowned for terse, almost combative interviews. This is his brand. When San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gives curt, one-word answers in ESPN mid-game interviews, it’s considered whimsical and light-hearted, but Harbaugh’s version is spun as socially inept.
ESPN’s attempts to portray Jim Harbaugh as a prickly personality, however, may improve the former 49ers coach’s Q rating, which won’t hurt when it comes time to sell college football in the fall.
It’s part of a broader focus on the coach’s quirks — from with recruits in a proxy camp (“Where I come from, you play shirts and skins,” he said) to throwing out at Tuesday night’s Detroit Tigers game in his signature khakis.
ESPN’s khakꦑi coverage will continue throughout the summer, until there’s some actual football to report.