The Cock of the Walk

In the buildup to the college football national championship tonight, sportswriters are always searching for new angles. Here's one: Michigan coach's Jim Harbaugh's chickens. [bold added]

Harbaugh is a serious backyard chicken farmer.

“Chickens have made the cut into his pretty small circle of important things in his life,” said Jay Harbaugh, his eldest son and the Wolverines’ special-teams coordinator...

The chickens have become a welcome distraction for Harbaugh during a season that’s been full of them. Michigan has faced two separate scandals and NCAA investigations. Harbaugh’s own future in Ann Arbor is once again the subject of speculation, as professional teams with head coaching vacancies curry his favor for the third consecutive winter.

When it seems like everybody’s out to get Michigan (this year’s team has adopted the slogan “Michigan vs. Everybody”), Harbaugh can count on the undying loyalty of his flock. “There’s times when I’m doing good things for other people, and they’re not as happy to see me as my chickens are,” he said in November.

The Harbaugh chicken coop dates back to 2020, when the family purchased seven chicks—one for each of the coach’s children—just before Easter during the early days of the pandemic shutdown.

The jokes write themselves ("cluck management" WSJ drawing, above right).

On a serious note high-powered individuals often find solace in animals, who unlike two-legged creatures, give them unconditional love.

(photo from KJCT8)

Now that Jim Harbaugh's team, the Michigan Wolverines, won the national championship tonight, it's very likely that several billionaire NFL team owners will want him to be their head coach next year.

At the age of 60 he's about to reach his beak.