The blunt advice Jim Harbaugh's dad gave Michigan coach: Bowling Green will 'kick your (butt)'
Michigan is a 40-point favorite entering Saturday's college football game against Bowling Green, but Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines are not looking past the Falcons.
His parents' history won't allow it.
The Harbaugh family, including dad Jack and mom Jackie, might be more familiar with Bowling Green than any school outside of Michigan, going back more than six decades to when Jack and Jackie attended the university in northern Ohio.
On his "Inside Michigan Football" radio show Monday, Jim Harbaugh recalled memories of driving past Bowling Green on I-75 on the way back to Ann Arbor from his father's hometown of Crestline, Ohio, and even sang Ay Ziggy Zoomba, the Bowling Green fight song.
"There was a year or two in there when I brought the Ay Ziggy Zoomba, I commandeered it and brought it to Stanford," Harbaugh said. "It didn't really take hold, they're not still singing it. It didn't last the whole four years I was there, but I tried it."
More: Michigan football's running game still shaping up ahead of Bowling Green matchup
Jack Harbaugh, currently an associate head coach on Michigan's staff during Jim Harbaugh's three-game suspension, played football and baseball at Bowling Green from 1957-60, winning the small college national championship in his junior year. He also served as an assistant coach at Bowling Green from 1968-70.
Jack Harbaugh, a former U-M assistant under Bo Schembechler, will be on the sidelines for Michigan this week. He is still proud of and confident in his alma mater.
"My dad has been right there for a couple weeks now telling us, 'Bowling Green is going to come up here and kick your ass,'" Jim Harbaugh said Monday.
Jack Harbaugh credits his time at BGSU as the greatest four years of his life. For BGSU “𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙮” he is inspiring us to help give the current and next generations the same experience. You can partner with Jack by clicking ⬇️
DONATE TO 🏈: https://t.co/LOM4VkJIq0 pic.twitter.com/krfstURk86— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) March 29, 2023
But it's not just Jack Harbaugh who was complimentary of the Falcons. Jim Harbaugh, a longtime friend of Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler, a fellow former Michigan quarterback, praised their offensive scheme.
"We need to be taking some of their ideas with their pass concepts," Harbaugh said. "They're outstanding."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jim Harbaugh's dad on Michigan-Bowling Green: They'll kick your butt
