ANN ARBOR — In 2018, Jim Harbaugh famously told former Michigan quarterback Wilson Speight to not eat chicken simply because it’s a “nervous bird,” according to a Bleacher Report story.
In the same story, Speight was quoted saying Harbaugh “thinks some type of sickness injected its way into the human population when people began eating white meats instead of beef and pork.”
Michigan’s head coach, now a proud owner of chickens, recanted his stance on the bird species on Monday. The 59-year-old purchased several chicks for his kids at a Tractor Supply Co. just before Easter 2020 and has since grown fond of his flock.
They loved those chickens for about a week,” Harbaugh said. “And then the chicks became teenager chickens and became adult chickens. All hens, egg-layers. I’m the one who takes care of them. The respect I have for chickens – I know there was a time I said that chicken was a nervous bird and I don’t eat chicken, I only eat meat. I was dead wrong. I stand corrected. These chickens are low-maintenance and high-production.
“They lay an egg every 26-27 hours, and they need water, they need food. I play with them too when I’m out in the yard. We run around, and they’re happy to see me. There’s times when I’m doing good things for other people, and they’re not as happy to see me as my chickens are. It’s good for my mental health as well and get fresh eggs every day.”
Harbaugh was slapped with a three-game suspension by the Big Ten on Friday just one day before his team’s toughest matchup of the season at No. 10 Penn State. The third-ranked Wolverines bullied their way to a 24-15 victory to improve to 10-0, but the program remains immersed in a sign-stealing scandal that has remained at the forefront of the college sports news cycle.
The Wolverines are under investigation by the NCAA for alleged impermissible off-campus scouting orchestrated by former staffer Connor Stalions, who has since resigned since the beginning of the NCAA probe.
Harbaugh has denied any knowledge of the elaborate sign-stealing scheme the program is accused of, but the Big Ten determined Michigan violated the league’s sportsmanship policy and banned the Wolverines’ ninth-year coach from the sideline for the next three games.
Unless Michigan can obtain a temporary restraining order Friday that could block the suspension, Harbaugh won’t be on the sideline Saturday against Maryland as the Wolverines have a chance to become the first NCAA football program to reach 1,000 wins.
Through the highs and lows of his career, Harbaugh has taken a similar approach when dealing with emotions.
“Whatever the emotion is, name an emotion – frustration, anger, happiness. Whatever it is, I just go find work to do,” Harbaugh said when asked about potentially not being on the sideline for the program’s 1,000th win. “I find something extra to do, and when I do that, I find that it clears my mind, cleanses my soul, and a lot of times, the perfect thing comes to you – what to do, how to do it. Not every time but a lot of the time. When you’re done, you’ve accomplished something…
“I always use the analogy with others to try to put it in a frame of reference, Sarah (his wife) doesn’t like when I talk about her. She doesn’t like this so I apologize to Sarah before I say this. She’ll get mad at me and get after me. Sometimes, I get angry. I got two options: I can come back and fire back and I’ll show her who’s boss or I can turn right around, go out and feed the chickens, clean the coop, cut the lawn, edge it. It always is the better resolution. That’s how I treat things since I was real young. It’s been productive.”
Harbaugh will be hoping to be granted a TRO in court Friday so he can also get back to working on the sidelines the next two Saturdays against Maryland and Ohio State.