Why Jim Harbaugh placed himself in the middle of college athletics revenue sharing discussions

While his comments certainly weren’t overlooked, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh’s media day treatise about the need to share college athletics revenues with athletes took a bit of a back seat to the yet-to-be-played national championship game.

But after Harbaugh and his squad rollicked to a 34-13 win, capping arguably the greatest season in Michigan football history, On3’s Andy Staples took a moment to consider why Harbaugh said what he said, and if the proposed idea from Michigan’s head coach to share revenue could actually take hold.

For one, Harbaugh seems to actually believe what he’s saying, even if it’s not the full motivation.

“I’m not entirely sure it’s all out of the goodness of his heart. I think a lot of it is he would like to see the NCAA and the Big Ten lose on some stuff that they would like to win,” Staples said. “But, very intriguing answer from Jim Harbaugh about what he would change in college sports.”

Harbaugh, on Saturday at media day ahead of the championship game, was asked the one thing he’d change about college football.

“The thing I would change about college football is to let the talent share in the ever-increasing revenues. I mean it’s — we’re all robbing the same train and the ones that are in a position to do the heavy lifting, the ones that risk life and limb out there on the football field, are the players. And not just football players, student-athletes. The organizations are fighting hard to keep all the money, universities, the NCAA, the conferences and it’s long past time to let the student-athletes share in the ever-increasing revenues. I mean it’s billions. I keep reading facts about how much money is being made. I mean, product placement. I can’t have a can of a different kind of soda up here. I’ve got to put it into a cup here,” Harbaugh said, picking up and putting down the branded plastic cup set by his spot on the podium.

Harbaugh went on to explain his solution — everybody currently profiting from college sports from coaches to TV networks take 5-to-10% of their revenues and put it in a pot to pay players — and even decried what he deemed excuses for why more substantive action hasn’t been taken. He contrasted the inaction on player compensation and revenue sharing with the seeming readiness for college sports institutions to lawyer up and protect every dollar — or potential dollar — when it comes to their own coffers, citing the collapse of the Pac-12 conference.

Staples had a hard time quibbling with the argument, even if Harbaugh might want to see the NCAA and Big Ten, among others, take some pain as he’s continued to face intense scrutiny of multiple NCAA investigations.

Harbaugh also might be interested in pushing for more professionalization because it can let him spend more time with players. Staples cited a story that former Stanford player Sam Schwartzstein, who was a center during Harbaugh’s tenure, shared after Harbaugh made his initial comments: In short, Harbaugh wanted the Stanford players to try and unionize since no one was looking out for them, and so they could ask the university and NCAA to fight for more practice time.

In 2008 Coach Harbaugh opened up a meeting begging for us, the players, to unionize.

He said “you’re the smart Stanford guys you should do it… you need to fight for your rights…rights to have more than 20hrs of practice time a week. We need more practice, fight for it”

LOL https://t.co/3B16FhJM7m

— Sam Schwartzstein (@schwartzsteins) January 6, 2024

It’s also allowing Harbaugh to position himself at the head of the charge — among those working within college football — to pay players directly with the revenue they generate.

“I also don’t know if he’s necessarily going to the NFL. I do think he is calculated in the way he looks at this and there’s a kind of right side of history thing going on here where that is where it’s going to go. So him being the first major coach to advocate the way he is for this, to have this platform and use it that way, I do think there’s a little bit of calculated effort there. But I also think he really believes this. And probably good for recruiting, if we look at it that way. Probably I would imagine recruits hear these comments and say, ‘You know what, I’d rather play for him than a coach who says ‘Well I’d quit before the schools can pay the players.” A few coaches who have said that, by the way,” Staples said.

And Staples ultimately agreed with Harbaugh that some of the excuses ring hollow and that the Pac-12 dissolution was a prime example.

If a conference that’s existed since before U.S. involvement in World War I can unwind in a matter of weeks, altering the college model and allowing for revenue to be paid directly to athletes generating it is likely less complex than it’s made out to be. And the real hold up isn’t finding a way, but the will to follow it.

“So it’s not as complicated as they think. If you really want to make a new system, just go make a new system. If you’re tired of getting sued, just listen to Jim Harbaugh,” Staples said.