Paul Finebaum calls Jim Harbaugh 'the Jack Nicholson of coaching' for 'Oscar-winning performance' about NCAA investigation
Paul Finebaum loved the acting chops of Jim Harbaugh amid the notice of allegations at Michigan.
Harbaugh, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, practically wiped his hands clean of any potential wrongdoing in Ann Arbor, particularly with Connor Stalions. Stalions, the alleged mastermind behind the sign stealing scandal, was hit with Level 1 violations.
But Harbaugh, after denying any wrongdoing, set Finebaum off Tuesday morning, comparing the coach to Jack Nicholson.
“It’s an Oscar winning performance,” Finebaum said on Get Up. “I had a lot of different emotions. I mean, I wanted to throw all kinds of adjectives up on the board. I wanted to label him as a pathological liar, as someone who was delusional, but I can’t do it anymore. Because I mean, I think he in many ways is the Jack Nicholson of coaching. He’s a man for all seasons.
“He has so many different lanes, and you really just can’t get mad at the guy. I mean, you can’t say he ran a program into the ground because they won the national championship.
“Yeah, he left a stench behind but as we have said, it will get cleaned up with very little penalty. He’s making a fortune with the Chargers and I’m gonna bow to the feet of Jim Harbaugh for pulling off this scam and then acting like he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Get Up host Mike Greenberg, frankly, believed Harbaugh’s statement and would “acquit” him on all charges. Keeping with the movie theme, it was basically his version of 12 Angry Men.
Finebaum agreed regarding Harbaugh. There’s simply nothing you can do at this point.
“I’m going to vote to acquit him as well, because, first of all, it takes great courage to do what he did,” Finebaum said. “And I would like a neurologist to go inside his mind because I really don’t think Jim believes that he did anything wrong. And that may be the most remarkable aspect of all of this.”
Harbaugh did not apologize for the situation and denied any wrongdoing Monday when asked about Michigan.
“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal,” Harbaugh said, via Daniel Popper. “I was raised with that lesson. I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I’ve coached. No one’s perfect. If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right.
“Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So for, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”