Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh sat down with GQ to talk about peanut butter, treating his eight-year-old kids like his football players, and some other stuff—you can read the full interview here. What really jumped out from the piece, though, was the fact that the Wolverines head coach really, really loves scrolling through the ol’ Twitter feed. (I mean, who doesn’t, especially today?)
While other curmudgeonly college coaches may try to dissuade their athletes from using the site, Harbaugh told GQ that he doesn’t view the social media website as a potential distraction for recruits, but as a resource. For them, that means being able to instantly fact-check a post or connecting with their friends and coaches; for him, that means finding the dankest memes and roasting the shit out of anyone that crosses him (“Pete” Finebaum, Nick Saban, Gene Smith, Kirby Smart, the whole SEC, and the unseen forces that continue to suppress baseball dust, to name a few).
I just enjoy it. I really do. It’s a great way to get information, it’s a great way to communicate instantly. And the best part about it is the humor. I laugh. Sometimes I belly laugh. You also have the ability to make other people laugh. There are so many things that are really positive about it. And you can learn a lot. Get somebody else’s perspective. Maybe they’re going to think of something in a way that you weren’t thinking about it. I think it’s really healthy.
[...]
I always try to check the spelling. Because if you misspell one word, people will rip you unmercifully—over the wrong usage of a your/you’re, or there/their. But that Michigan education is paying off! It really helps.
Harbaugh may not understand the finer points of being a chill sports dad or working out in non-khaki pants, but he at least gets that this short life is really only about four things: whole milk, baseball dust, Michigan football, and belly laughs. Call it immature or a waste of time, but Twitter gives the man three outta four.
[GQ]