Paul Finebaum can't stand Jim Harbaugh. He's never liked the former Michigan football head coach -- probably because Jim called out the SEC as hypocrites early in his career and we all know Paul has a soft spot for the SEC.
For years, Finebaum talked about how Michigan football couldn't beat the SEC, would never beat Ohio State and wouldn't win anything under Jim Harbaugh.
Of course, Harbaugh and Michigan football exposed Finebaum's ignorance multiple times. Michigan football beat Ohio State three straight times under Jim Harbaugh -- even though Harbaugh was wrongly suspended for the last one of the games.
Then, Finebaum said Michigan football would lose to Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Wrong again. He probably predicted Washington to win the national title game, too. I honestly don't remember.
Finally, after Michigan football won the national title, Finebaum had to admit there would be "no asterisk" regarding the Wolverines national championship, which was even funnier than him admitting that the Big Ten owns college football recently, citing Michigan's national title, along with Ohio State's as the reason why.
Yet, after Yahoo Sports reported about Michigan's response to the NCAA's notice of allegations, the Harbaugh haters felt emboldened again.
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema attacked Harbaugh for "running away" and Finebaum, certainly feeling a kinship to Bielema who won 46 percent of his games as an SEC head coach, took it even further, frankly to a level of insanity on Wednesday.
“I’ve always liked Bret,” Finebaum said via On3 on the Paul Finebaum Show Wednesday. “He was fun when we were together. But he is right. Harbaugh is just a disingenuous fraud about all the things he used to say. He didn’t want to face the music. By the way, Michigan didn’t really want him to stay.”
Paul Finebaum is wrong about Michigan football, again
People like to call Harbaugh a fraud, even though there has been zero evidence presented that shows Harbaugh knew or directed the scheme or that he lied. However, the biggest problem I have about what Finebaum said is that Michigan football didn't want Harbaugh back.
That's just inaccurate. Michigan offered Harbaugh the richest contract in college football history. The school President and Athletic Director both stated publicly that they wanted Harbaugh back and the contract offer says as much.
Harbaugh achieved everything he could have at the college level. And since he's the best football coach on the planet, an NFL team made him a huge offer and he accepted. He also took that team to the playoffs this season after five wins in 2023, reinforcing his value.
People want to compare Harbaugh and Ryan Day, saying Day isn't running to the NFL. Well, does any NFL team want him?
Very few coaches have had success in the NFL and college. Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll are basically it. Harbaugh is one of just two head coaches to reach a Super Bowl and win a college national championship. Carroll, of course, is the only man to win a Super Bowl and a national championship -- for now.
So Day hasn't left because it would be a huge risk and I don't think a single NFL team has legitimately been interested, (probably cause he's 0-4 against Michigan). If Day did leave, more likely than not, he would get fired, just like Urban Meyer who couldn't make it through one season as an NFL head coach.
So no, Jim Harbaugh didn't run from the NCAA. Remember, he wanted to fight in court and Michigan made him stand down. He left for the chance to pursue his final goal -- winning a Super Bowl as a head coach -- something guys like Bielema will never get the chance to do and are CLEARLY jealous.
Finebaum isn't jealous. He's just mad that Harbaugh has made him look so stupid, so many times. Yet, he's still wrong about Michigan football and blatantly lying to his audience by saying the Wolverines didn't want Harbaugh back.
That's just sad. Then again, it's Paul Finebaum, so I wouldn't expect anything different.