Opinion: Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh snitched on Ohio State coach Ryan Day. Good for him.

College football is back, in all its petty glory.  

During a Big Ten coaches’ call Monday, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh reportedly interrupted Ohio State coach Ryan Day and accused him of breaking the rules. At issue was a photo Harbaugh saw that purportedly showed the Buckeyes’ assistant coach, Al Washington, on the field with his players. 

That’s a no-no right now — NCAA rules don’t allow for on-field coaching until Friday.  

Day’s response? 

“How about I worry about my team and you worry about yours?” he told Harbaugh, according to Bucknuts.com. 

But that wasn’t all. In a meeting with his team later that day, Day told his players that Harbaugh better hope for a mercy rule this season because his team was going to “hang 100 on them.”  

Though is that really a threat? Or any  different from what’s unfolded the last couple of seasons? 

Boy, did we need this, if only for a moment, to remember what college football is truly about.  

Now, before you — and by you, I mean every Michigan hater — accuse Harbaugh of being petty, remember that the NCAA spends all its time devising rules for a reason, mostly to ensure that everyone makes money but the players. 

Yet … rules are rules.  

And, Harbaugh had every right to scoff at the photo of OSU’s coaches’ allegedly trying to break them, as if they needed the extra practice to beat the Wolverines anyway. The issue for Harbaugh is that he chose to accuse Day directly, which is to say publicly, because no conference call among coaches exists in a cone of secrecy. 

Then again, Harbaugh has shown he doesn’t much care what others think, especially not rival coaches. If he did, he might have run the photo up the ladder at Michigan and let the school contact the NCAA, or at least the Big Ten’s office.

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But Michigan’s coach doesn’t operate that way. Never has. This is the same coach, after all, who has questioned rival schools on Twitter, suggesting they were breaking recruiting rules, the same coach who wore his cleats inside a recruit’s home, over hardwood floors, to prove … he likes football? 

“Weird,” Isaiah Wilson told former Wolverines lineman Taylor Lewan on his podcast this week.  

Wilson, a lineman, ended up at Georgia. He was put off by the cleats. That’s fine. He also said no to Alabama because Nick Saban didn’t hug him.  

Well, do you blame him for that one? 

Right about now, everyone could use a hug, even Harbaugh and Day, though the rivalry wouldn’t be as much fun if they did. As for Harbaugh worrying if the Buckeyes were breaking the rules? 

He has every right. He should be irked — or worse.  

College football already is the least democratic sport we have, dominated by the equivalent of robber barons, where a handful of schools scoop up the best players every year leaving everyone else fighting for crumbs.  

So, no, Harbaugh wasn’t being petty, he just wasn’t showing much tact, and likely didn’t care, because he thought a rule had been broken, and he’s tired of playing by them when not everyone else always does. 

Yes, it’s fun when Day essentially gives Harbaugh the middle finger in response, then doubles down with his team later about how the Wolverines will get theirs when the teams meet up again. It’s a chunk of red meat, good for analysts and fans and (cough, cough) columnists.  

As in: “Did you see what Harbaugh did? When will he learn?” 

At some point the Michigan coach would help himself by beating Ohio State — he’s 0-for-5 so far. Then again, the programs are separated by a chasm of talent and expectation and, dare I say, resignation.  

Who among the Wolverine faithful didn’t see Day’s quote about 100 points and didn’t cringe because they know it’s possible? At this point, the Maize and Blue supporters just want to be competitive with the Buckeyes. 

Harbaugh won’t ever slide into resignation, which is why he called out Day on Monday. Yeah, he sounded like a snitch to some, or a teacher’s pet, or whatever pejorative you prefer. But he was also right. No team should get extra time to coach its players. 

It’s hard to blame him for saying so, even if that meant ticking off his tormentor yet again. 

Contact Shawn Windsor at or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.

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