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How do you get on Jim Harbaugh’s good side? Hand the ball to the official after a big play
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Jim Harbaugh isn’t a huge fan of touchdown celebrations. In fact, it’s something he really discourages his players from doing.
Against Florida, Grant Perry was assessed a 15-yard penalty after spinning the football on the ground following a huge play. It was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that the head coach was disgusted with. But during practice, Harbaugh and the coaching staff talked about it and gave the players some guidelines moving forward.
“We made a conscious effort and coached it,” Harbaugh said according to CBS Detroit. “We said, ‘When you score, when you make a big play, give the ball to the official. Hand the ball to the official.'”
Message received.
Last Saturday against Cincinnati, Kekoa Crawford made a huge touchdown catch to give Michigan a 7-0 lead early in the game. Despite getting mauled by some of his teammates, he did something that “warmed the cockles” of Harbaugh’s heart. He handed the ball to the official.
“He gets up, he’s very excited and his first reaction is to run toward the official, who was about 10 yards away,” Harbaugh said. “Meanwhile, there’s five, then seven, then nine and 10 of our players trying to hug him and high-five him and congratulate him…and he gets the ball to the official under duress from his own team.”
If a player is going to get that much praise from his head coach after handing the ball to an official, you can bet more Michigan receivers will be taking that route as a touchdown celebration.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB