According to a story in The Michigan Daily, Jim Harbaugh once rubbed a player’s arm blood all over his face after his team scored a touchdown, then hopped around on the sideline like a madman. I’m not about burying the lede; I just jump right in.
The year was 2007, Harbaugh’s first as coach of Stanford. During a speech to his team, Harbaugh told his players how badly he wished he was playing alongside them. He was so excited, in fact, that he told them he wanted their blood on him if they bled during that week’s game. Some of his players who were present thought nothing of it and figured he wasn’t serious. You know, because it could be considered by some people as a slightly unreasonable thing to do. But during the game, right tackle Chris Marinelli ran off the field after a touchdown and had an open wound on his arm. Harbaugh allegedly rubbed his hand over the wound and then smeared the blood all over his own face.
“(Harbaugh is) standing on the sideline with the offensive line, really jacked up, screaming, yelling, jumping around with blood smeared on his face,” said Chase Beeler, one of the team’s offensive linemen.
Harbaugh is rumored to be the top choice for the Michigan coaching vacancy and I sincerely hope all the details within this story are 100% accurate.