Jim Harbaugh received text from Hall of Fame coach following win

Jim Harbaugh had one of the best days of his coaching career on Saturday, finally defeating Ohio State. Afterwards, one of the coolest moments of his career took place as well — Harbaugh received a congratulatory text from legendary coach John Madden.

“Jim Harbaugh says he got a text from John Madden after the Ohio State game. “This is as good of an offensive line performance as he’s seen,” Harbaugh said of the text. “I texted that to Sherrone and told him to keep that on his phone forever,'” tweeted On3’s Clayton Sayfie.

A Super Bowl champion. Pro Football Hall of Famer. Video game mogul. In the football world, Madden is as big as it gets — and he was in Harbaugh’s phone following Michigan’s victory.

The fans rushing the field, the snow falling from the sky and the chance at Michigan’s first Big Ten title since 2004. Saturday was an amazing day for Harbaugh, but Madden’s text was the icing on the cake.

Jim Harbaugh praised by Paul Finebaum

He’s no John Madden, but Paul Finebaum has been one of Jim Harbaugh’s biggest detractors. Finally, Harbaugh was able to make Finebaum eat his words with a gigantic victory.

Following Michigan’s win, Finebaum praised Harbaugh for the job he’s done.

“I genuinely felt happy for Jim Harbaugh. Know what the narrative has been coming out of my mouth and I appreciate everyone reminding me,” Finebaum said on The ESPN College Football Podcast after Michigan’s win. “I genuinely loved what I saw with him .. I have to take my hat off to this guy because I don’t know if there’s a major coach in the country that has been pummeled by more people. Forget the media — we’re pundits. His own fanbase [has criticized him].”

Harbaugh responded to the criticism in a big way Saturday, leading Michigan past Ohio State and paving a clear-cut path for the Wolverines to make the College Football Playoff. Now, all they’ll have to do is win the Big Ten Championship game against Iowa, a game Michigan clinched a berth to on Saturday, and their chances of missing out on the playoff are close to zero.

“His administration was on the verge last year of trying to find out where to go, so they cut his salary, and he took every punch,” Finebaum said of Harbaugh. “He never said very much, and he put an absolute masterpiece on the board yesterday. He made Ryan Day look silly, he made all of us look silly. His team was dominant, they were crushing, they were suffocating. And I don’t know where the national coach of the year will go. Clawson certainly has a shot at it, others do as well, and we’ll figure it out after next week. But I would have to put him very high on my list of Coach of the Year because not only did he put that on the board, but he exceeded expectations, and he really shut everyone up in the country including myself.”