Jim Harbaugh jokes he can 'finally hold my head up in the family' after winning national championship

On Monday night, the Michigan Wolverines won the national championship. For head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has coached both in the NFL and at multiple college stops, it was the first time he left the field at the end of the season as the champion.

After the game, a video showed Jim Harbaugh walking off the field. Once he was in the tunnel, he joked that the championship was going to do a lot for him when it came to spending time with his family.

“I can finally hold my head up in the family,” Harbaugh joked.

Follow Jim Harbaugh off the field and wait til the end 😂 pic.twitter.com/Hm4Z5eXFfS

— TOM MARTIN (@LetItFlyTom) January 9, 2024

Jim Harbaugh obviously comes from a family of coaches. His brother John is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens and famously beat Jim in the Super Bowl. That game was back in February of 2013, which means that there’s been a decade’s worth of holidays where the older brother had something on the younger brother.

Of course, John Harbaugh is happy for his brother, even if it means he’s not the only champion brother. He even showed up at the game and made sure to give his brother a hug and show him some support.

In all reality, the joke from Harbaugh is a moment where he didn’t necessarily think about the camera rolling on him and it shared just a glimpse of his personality and sense of humor. At the same time, before the championship game, Harbaugh spoke about family as it relates to what winning a national championship would mean to him.

“What it would mean to me, for my kids to know their dad is a national champion. And for my parents and my brother and my sister. That’s the overwhelming thing, just that so many people would be able to enjoy that, be a part of that,” Harbaugh said before the game. “For my wife, for her husband to be a national champion. For me, not so much, but for everybody else, yeah, that would be huge.”

Jack Harbaugh sends fiery on-field message following Michigan’s national championship

Following the national championship win, Jim Harbaugh’s father Jack sent a fiery message to a crowd of Michigan fans.

“I have a question if I might: Who’s got it better than us?!” Jack Harbaugh said. “Nobody!”

That simple question has been a kind of mantra for Michigan all season long. A phrase to help them celebrate wins and big moments, and there was no bigger moment for the program than winning a natural championship.