Jim Harbaugh is going to be a football coach until he is physically unable to do it anymore, at least that’s what he’s gotten Greg McElroy to believe.
McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback who played for the New York Jets in the NFL, is now a college football analyst for ESPN. Apparently, he hasn’t gone according to the script and isn’t a real football man.
The ex-QB was talking up Harbaugh’s dedication to the game this week when he recalled a bizarre conversation with the Michigan head coach that left him stunned.
“I remember seeing (Harbaugh) at the Big Ten media days. This was probably 2015 or 16. I had actually worked Michigan’s camp the summer before. So 13 months earlier I was in Ann Arbor working Michigan’s aerial assault camp as one of the quarterback coaches.
“And Jim Harbaugh approached me at Big Ten media days and said ‘oh Greg, you’re done playing, huh? You’re not playing anymore?’ I said ‘no, coach. I decided to kind of move into this world and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I love college football, it’s great to be back and working in the world that I’m working in…’
“He basically looked at me as dry and direct as you can possibly be and he said ‘oh, so you don’t love football?’ I’m like ‘no, I love football, coach. I love it. I mean, football is amazing, coach, I work in football. I’m a broadcaster, but I work in football.’…he said ‘no, no, no. You love football if you play football and when you’re done playing and you can no longer play then you coach. And if you don’t coach, then you die.’”
It’s as simple as that for Harbaugh.
The 60-year-old will look to win his first national title when he leads Michigan out against the Washington Huskies in the championship game on Monday. He is expected to return to the NFL thereafter.
