Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh is known for being a pretty quirky guy, but his theory on chickens might just take the cake.
Former Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight, who transferred to UCLA ahead of the 2018 season, related a conversation he had with Harbaugh.
“Early in his Michigan tenure, Harbaugh pulled Speight aside and told him not to eat chicken, a protein that is considered fairly safe by nutritionists,” Matt Hayes of Bleacher Report shared. “When Speight asked why, Harbaugh said, ‘because it’s a nervous bird.'”
Speight went on to elaborate, saying, “He thinks some type of sickness injected its way into the human population when people began eating white meats instead of beef and pork,” Speight says. “And he believes it, 100 percent.”
That’s just classic Harbaugh. He has the strangest takes on certain things. You either have to buy in all the way or move on.
Thankfully for the Wolverines, new quarterback Shea Patterson has taken to his coach, whom he calls, “a little bizarre.”
“He’s a real as it gets. He’s just how you’d think he’d be,” Patterson says. “He’s definitely a character, a little bizarre. You’ll be sitting there talking to him, and you’re thinking, What the hell is this guy talking about? Is this real life? But I really like him.”
This coming season is a pivotal one for Harbaugh and his program. The Big Ten is extremely competitive, and the pressure to succeed is only going to increase the longer the Wolverines remain on the outside looking in for the conference title.