Michigan vs Ohio State - Natural Born Rivals

Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer have long been destined to lead the games most storied rivalry. But even they're surprised to learn of their remarkable shared history.

- Brett Forrest, illustration by Butcher Billy

You don't have to travel to Ann Arbor to catch the Jim Harbaugh show. If you live near a high school football field, Harbaugh will come to you. In June, the new Michigan coach toured the country, stirring excitement and controversy equally by orchestrating nine prep camps in six other states. Who would've known that Michigan football has struggled for nearly a decade? Like a magician with a silk handkerchief fluttering from one hand and a coin palmed in the other, Harbaugh has induced the public to focus on the wrong object: himself. His sleight of hand has been so deft that you might believe for a moment that Michigan, and not Ohio State, won college football's first-ever playoff.

But if you do find your way to Ann Arbor, you’ll realize how Harbaugh has re-energized college football without coaching a game. Here at Schembechler Hall, a gallery of artifacts eulogizes rosier days—cable-knit jerseys in maize and faded blue, trophies and Tom Harmon’s tattered-and-torn No. 98. No séance will raise these departed souls. But there isn’t a coach who understands the spirits of this program as well as Harbaugh, nor one as willing to risk his reputation to revive it.

On this afternoon in June, shortly after returning from his tour, Harbaugh is speaking quietly with a prep tight end from Massachusetts. Over the recruit’s left shoulder, he detects a reporter with a notepad loitering outside his office. His eyes widen, possibly in recognition of colliding forces. Recruiting. Publicity.And the curtain lifts.

“Gimme the ball!”