Jim Harbaugh - Why Relentless Enthusiasm Wins Games - [Glue Guys, EP.37]

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You know, something gets in my head. I want that or I want that challenge or like, am I man enough to, am I man enough to come back to the National Football League? Talk about the coaches that are in the National Football League right now. I mean it is dog eat dog and I feel like I'm wearing milk bone underwear, you know, like.

Hey guys, super quick story here. To set up the interview with Harbaugh, Ravi and I decided to go down to LA in person for this interview. Prior to this, over Christmas, I had got the guys, Shane and Ravi, these glue guys blue collar shirts right from my stories with Jim Harbaugh. We were debating on whether or not to wear them in person, if it, you know, if it seemed kind of cheesy or, or corny. Anyways, we decided to wear them and we kind of surprised Coach Harbaugh with them. And the best part was, you know, when Coach walked into the room he had this like really, really nice quarter zip on, you know, tucked in shirt khakis. And he immediately took a look at us in our blue collar shirts and was like, oh man, let me go get mine. And so he ran out of the room and he came storming back in with his Chargers blue collar shirt and the interview commenced like obviously it's like a very tangible thing like this blue collar shirt. But for me, when I became a professional, when I signed a professional contract and like, a lot of stuff changes, right? Like expectations and mindset. All of a sudden, guys are wearing fancy suits.

Yeah.

I got sucked into the trap. I bought custom suits, you know, like, there's these like, you know, and I bought them and I'm like, yeah. In hindsight, it was like the dumbest thing. There were so many things, but this was a tangible thing that like every guy on the team loved them. Like, it would have your own name on it. Like you could wear it to the games. I wore it after every. Like, it just was like. And it was something like I didn't have to worry about what the hell I was going to wear right to and from a freaking game. I just put on my blue collar shirt and like a hat and I'm.

Like, I'm good to go. Yeah, you may be out somewhere, you know, you may be. You may be at a restaurant or somewhere and somebody, you know, comes up and, hey, the, the toilet's broken. Can you go check on it? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. You know, it's like just a glue guy. Yeah, a glue guy.

You're a glue guy in some ways. Like, you know, like what we talked about.

You're a go to guy. You know, you get the job done. You know, somebody in your family did the dirty work for you to get where you are, where. I mean, you're, you're just coming off a college education, for gosh sakes. You know, I mean, you're, you're. You got, you got the best darn job in the world, but somebody put you in that position. You didn't hit a triple. Yeah, totally. You worked your way to first, you know, then to second, then to third. And you had a lot of help on the way and especially whoever did the dirty work, you know, the blue collar job, the job maybe they didn't love, but they were doing it. Grandfather had a work shirt. He was a mechanic, you know, and it said Joe. My grandfather Bill was a brakeman on a train, you know, his shirt said Bill. It's a respect. You're paying a. You know, gratitude and tribute to those in your family. And we all got it.

This was like a team meeting. Like, it would be presented to you. We learned, like, I didn't even know the history of blue collar versus white collar. Yeah, like, and like, I think these are like. And we explained. And this was like explained, like, and then I think you said it there, but like, there's this gratefulness. The people that came before us and like, paved the way, but there's like a Gratefulness in everything that you preach. It's so easy to be like, oh, this sucks. It's a burden. It's hard, no?

And like everything.

But where does that, where did it come from?

For me, it comes from my dad, comes from Jack Harbaugh. I mean, it's enthusiasm unknown to mankind. You think about, okay, unknown to mankind mean that's otherworldly, you know, that's not of mankind. But that's, that's how we were, that's how we were raised. And you, and you, you were raised to, I mean, who's got it better than us? My dad would tell us, we were trained to say, nobody, nobody, dad, Nobody can have it better. Nobody.

Did you ever think it'd become a rap song?

No. That was amazing. First time I heard it, I was in the first grade, six years old. We were living in Iowa City, Iowa. Dad coaching for the Hawkeyes. We had this old Chevrolet. We went from Bowling Green, Ohio. He was coaching at bgsu. We drove to Iowa, about an eight hour car drive. And it wasn't too long after that, that car just wasn't working anymore. And then we got dealer car, you know, fortunately, so they would give a. Iowa was a big time program. Coach got a dealer car to do his recruiting in. And one day we came outside and there's no car there. You know, we're like, hey, dad, where's the car? My dad's like, no car today, boys. We're walking. John, grab a basketball. Jim, grab a basketball. Hundred with the right, hundred with the left. Who's got it better than us? Nobody, dad, nobody. I was, I went back to Iowa when I was coaching at the 49ers because I was scouting a quarterback. Ricky Stanza.

I know Ricky, you know, played with Ricky. Good man City.

Good night.

Amazing dude.

Yeah. So I've scout Ricky and then, okay, I got this, I got this flight, but it doesn't leave for an hour and a half. And it's, you know, it's out of Des Moines. So I go, you know, I'm gonna take this rental car. I'm go over to my old house where we used to live, you know, so I go, I drive over there. Talran Court hadn't changed much. I stood there and I looked at this, my house, you know, and it was the smallest house that I'd ever seen. That was a house. And somebody built a big house next. Right next door to us. That's used to be our ball field. That was where we, it was an empty lot. We played baseball there. Obviously Some other people had it better than us, you know. But, you know, it hit me because I remember the house. It was a two bedroom house. My mom and dad slept in a room, and my sister, baby sister Joanie, she slept with them. John and I had a room, and there was a kitchen and a living room. Little, tiny, tiny everything. And one day, John and I were arguing and wrestling around, wrestling all the time. And we had to go to bed. And we heard my dad come in. And then my mom was like, you got them, you take them. They're out of control. I've had it with them, you know, as he's getting back from work. And we knew. And then we could hear the steps coming. Boom, boom, boom, boom. He opens the door and we're like, okay, you know, just give it.

Yeah, here it comes.

Here it comes.

And he.

He, like, looks at us and he goes, wow. I mean, who could possibly have it better than you two boys? You get to share a room. You get to tell each other your hopes, your dreams, you got a best friend. Nobody could have it better than you two. Who's got it better than us? Nobody, dad. Nobody. And obviously, it's a way of looking at.

Totally, yes.

It's a way of looking at life. And as I stand in there in front of that house that day, I was thinking, you're thinking back, gosh, the baseball field right over here. Remember all the great games, the time, you know, hit a ball and it hit the other neighbor's window and we caught heck for that, broke it. And I wanted to be a major league baseball player. That's what I wanted to be, Robbie. Growing up, you know, I was going to be a shortstop, going to play for the New York Yankees. And I realized at that point, like, no, I never had a chance, you know, because I had a glove, you know, I had a. I had a field to play on that was. It was pretty decent. But there was kids down in the Dominican Republic who fashioned gloves out of cardboard or milk cartons. And their field had a bunch of rocks and balls were taken, all kind of bounces. They had it better than me. They had it better than me because they were able to get good. So there's that piece to who's got it better than us. That is. It's like ankle weights. It's like, okay, this is gonna make me stronger.

This is what I need.

This is what I need. It's gonna make me better. Some adversity happens to you in your life and you go, good.

Maybe it's the best thing for me.

Good. Oh, you know what? We lost that game. Oh, good.

I was in my sixth year. We had a horrible year in the NFL year over at Stanford. You guys are crushing it. And then you get hired at the Niners. I wasn't in a great place at that point. I'm like, fully expect. Expecting to move on.

Right.

Like, my contract is up. I'm going to be a free agent. But I am. My wife Elizabeth is pregnant with our first child and we're going to deliver at Stanford. She's from the Bay Area. So it like meant a lot could still come into the facility though, until like March 3rd. That was like the end of the league here, like when my contract was like officially up. And so I would kind of come in the basement and I would work out. And I've told this story before about, like, obviously, you know, you came down and also we played catch and like, we're playing catch more. And then as we're nearing March 3rd, when I have to get out of the building and then, by the way, the lockout's looming.

Yeah.

You had asked me about would I be open to coming back. Yeah, I was very interested in it and coming back, but I couldn't actually sign the deal. I think because the way when the league year started was when I could potentially sign this deal for the first time. However lockout happened. So you and I, yeah, we couldn't tender.

We shook on this.

This was literally crazy. Hey, it was just you and me and this was like a handshake deal. It was like a throwback agreement. You gave me your word that you weren't going to draft a first round quarterback. And it was like a one year.

You'Re going to come back.

But then the lockout hits and like the door shut and like. And it was serious, right? Like labor union. The owners, like, lockout, no contact. Like, you couldn't have any contact with the coaches. They couldn't contact us.

All you have is a handshake and no words. Yeah.

No. Nothing else. We have no idea when the lockout's going to end. And fast forward now a couple months, it's maybe. And my son is. We're going to induce on May 10th. It was our first child and the induction was just a long process with my wife. It took like 24 hours. We thought he was going to come on the 10th anyway. It didn't come to, like, the morning of the 11th. It's this magical moment. Right. It's like, it's. It's magical. And she goes we separate after the labor room. Right. So she's going to go where we're going to sleep for a couple nights. And I stay with Hudson, my son. And I'm. I got my camera out. I'm like, videoing the whole thing. I'm taking 7 million pictures. And I go to the nursery with him because he's gonna get his first bath and Wade and all this stuff. In the nursery, there's glass door on the hallway, and I feel this, like, presence as, again, I'm filming my son and I'm, like, just taking this in, and I look up and his coach look at you, the glass, and he's in a shirt and tie.

This is amazing.

And he is. You are so genuinely happy.

He's happy right now.

You were so happy for me. You had called the league office to get clearance for this. Right. And again, like, we. We'd barely, like, we choke on this. We'd only really known each other for, like, a few weeks. And that you had gone out of your way to go do this. I always felt like you championed me. Yeah, right. Like, so much. Like, and especially at a time like, I hadn't really had one in a long time and changed my career, I.

Felt like I drew the long straw.

No, stop, stop.

That's all relationship.

And this is kind of the crazy part, like, of your job and how hard it is and, like, for any leaders out there. Like, then, though, like, fast forward two years, you do. You do have to make the decision to, like, not play me.

Yeah.

The duality of that as a leader that, like, has to, like, you are the champ. You do champion so many of your guys. And it's not like, I didn't. I didn't feel like you weren't. But, like, you do also have to make tough decisions.

Yeah.

Right. Like, for your. For your team.

Right.

Like, you have to put the team first.

How do you do that? Like, truly, like, get the full throated. Championing.

Right.

And the full throat, like, go see the guy when he's about to have the baby, but then also still be able to do what's best for the team, in your judgment, without being hindered by the emotional tie that certainly has to exist. You know what I'm saying? In that moment, what's good for the.

Bee is good for the hive. What's good for the hive is good for the bee. If we're just doing anything and everything for the players or anybody that's in the organization, like, literally, that's all I want to do is anything and Everything to help put somebody the best version of themselves because they're going to make, if they're the best version of themselves, then they're going to be the best version. They're going to help us be the best version of ourselves. So just doing that and winning for that, you know, that's the only two things that I think about coming into the building. And it's so funny you mentioned all those things. I was just talking to Peyton Manning. So he brought up the story of when Greg Roman and I, you know, undercover, you know, we go to see Peyton Manning work out and I'm like, Alex Smith is a free agent. I don't want to be a part of this whole circus, you know, like flying in and SUVs and we were told we had to do it. And I'm like, Alex Smith is, I think, better for our team in, in my mind at that time, okay, I'm gonna go do this and evaluate. And he also reminded me that like, like, well, Peyton, I mean your arm looks, you know, it does look a little like it's got some atrophy there, the shoulder. And you know, gosh, I, you know, I really like Alex Smith. You know, he's really, he's won us, you know, won us 13, 14, 15 games last year and we got to the NFC championship. And you know, would you consider an incentive, incentive type deal? So you talk about balancing it, you know, like, you know, you're doing, you're really doing, you know, what's best for the, and most of the time, I mean, when you're doing, you know, your absolute best for the, for the player and you're doing, you're doing the absolute best for the team, then you know that usually all the time it's what's both is what's best. Not gonna be good for me, but it's gonna be good for the team, by golly, we're going with what's good for the team. So I tell players, first, you know, God, spiritual, whatever your faith is. But you know, after that, you know, put family first because that's your responsibility, you know, that's your God given responsibility, is to take care of your family. And then secondly, put yourself first, you know, because that's human nature, for God's sake. So, you know, put yourself first. And then if you get the team in third, fourth, at least, at least get us in there, you know, in your top four then. And then when you re engineer that one backwards, you know, if somebody's really doing what's best for their Family, you know, which is supporting them, you know, then doing their job and doing it in a way with integrity that's going to, you know, that your, your kids are going to be proud of you, your parents are going to be proud of you. You know, you're really taking care of that name on the back of your jersey like you should be. And then if you're taking care of yourself, like the way you really should be taking care of yourself, you know, like putting the right things in your, in your body, you're getting your sleep, you're getting your nutrition. If you're really taking care of your team and you're really taking care of yourself, are you really taking of care. Care of your family and you're really taking care of yourself the way you should be, then you're taking care of us, you're taking care of the team. So all those things can be, you know, mutually beneficial. When I call them triple, triple nets. I don't know that much about investments or real estate, but I know if you're doing a real estate deal, you know, triple net is, is where you want to be somebody. Have to look up the definition. Yeah, it's extreme expenses. It's all taxes, income expenses. You're getting it all, you know, so let's go for those. Let's go for those. Win, win, wins.

So one question I had was a lot of times in business, people don't want to take a CEO job. And the reason is, the only reason the CEO job is available is because the company has some real problems. Right. That's the reason that they needed a new CEO. You five different times have taken the equivalent of, of a CEO job by walking into an organization that decided to make a change and bring you in at the helm. And you don't actually always bring in a lot of new people. A lot of what you do, at least from the outside, seems like you get a lot more out of the existing people. Exactly what you were saying, get the most out of people. What do you do in order to get the most out of people? Because I think there's a lot of applicability to, in other areas outside of sports, just from that leadership approach of kind of seeing that there's more that you can get out of somebody than what's been gotten out of them so far.

Oh, I mean, that's a big one. I wrote a lot of these down. I give them to you. This is my. It's my latest business card.

I love that you have it in your pocket.

Yeah, it's the latest one.

This is literally exactly what I was asking.

Can I ask a question? You can read those.

Yes.

Here's a question I had, because it just. It's hit me with all the, you know, with the draft, everything. So the comparisons, you know, who's like, that's a. That's a brutal one. And, you know, that's a tough one for quarterbacks. No quarterback, really, for sure. It's so hard because it's. Who do they really throw, like, or play like. I mean, everybody's a little bit different that way. And then they've been replaying the draft shows from the 70s. And so my question to you, because here's what I was thinking, I was like, who did I compare to as a player that played before me or maybe during my time? And maybe who do I think I can pair to as a quarterback current day? So that's my question to you, Alex. Like, who do you compare yourself to that played before you or during your time? And who do you compare yourself to that's playing right now?

Gosh, you know, I struggle because now that I'm, like, freaking doing espn, like, you inevitably get in these traps of, like, the comparison, and sometimes they're like, it. Sometimes they're even like, they can be cruel. Like, they're unfair. And I do feel like it.

I. I heard. Well, I'm gonna be. No, no, I'm good to myself.

No, no, totally.

Like, for sure.

I agree. But when sometimes, you know, people put them on pin on. On other people.

I've thought about it for you. I. I got a. I got. I got. I think I got that.

You know, Gosh. And I've told these guys. It was funny. It's funny. It's so long. It took me so long to, like. I feel like, feel really own my style of playing.

Yeah.

You know, like, part of this was.

Like, maybe you don't want to, you know. You want me to carry your water?

No, you.

No, no.

And you are part of this, like, allowing me to finally, like, run again and, like, embracing that. Whereas I feel like I'd been, like, trying to be this, like, pro quarterback for so long before that. Is it a current player? Do you have, like.

I do. I have a current player, and I have a player that played before you and me that I think you are. So I'll just go ahead and say it, see how close you think. Please. Okay. Player from the past. Roger Staubach.

No way.

Roger Staubach. Outstanding accuracy throwing quarterback. But he was scoot.

Great athlete.

Great athlete. He could scoot. Okay. Current Joe Burrow. Really athletic poise.

Yeah.

Super. Both super smart, great leaders.

You're being kind to me. Have you thought about this for yourself? Your comps?

Yeah, yeah, I have.

What have we got?

Current day, I would say J.J. mcCarthy.

All right.

So many times through scrimmages or practices that I was. Boy, it's like a young, young Jimmy Harbaugh. I'm watching this, you know, like this tape, and that's. That's kind of. Now he's in the NFL. So that's. That's who I. That's who I would go. John Elway for the.

Yeah, there we go.

You know, I'm being really kind to myself right now. Really, really overly kind. I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't think. I was. Not anywhere near his ballpark, but when I was growing up, my dad coached at school, Stanford and John Elwood High. I went to Pali High. Yeah. John Elliot was the quarterback. I used to go across the street and just watch him throw to James Lofton and Ken Marjoram. And I just. Everything that he did, the way he walked.

I was gonna say the walk. The walk is similar.

Yeah.

It's like a lumber.

I tried to copy, you know, like just. Just tried to emulate, copy everything that he did, you know, hitting the pads, I tried to turn my toe in, you know, just. You got to be kind to yourself.

Did you ever give J.J. mcCarthy, when you were there, did you ever give him the joke, the Bo Schambeckler kind of challenge that you got?

The one where he said, I'd never play down at the Michigan more?

Didn't he run into. You didn't. Isn't there a story about when he's like, you could be.

Yes.

The greatest quarterback at Michigan.

Yeah.

Or the worst mistake ever?

Like, that's word for word. Word for word. I was coming out of angel hall on campus, right there on State street, and he was coming out of the Union. He had just done some kind of luncheon, speaking. He had his coat and tie on. And I'm like, I just finished my sophomore year. Hadn't played at all, really. And we're going into spring practice and there was a quarterback opening starting position. So, you know, I'm really not that far. Still not that far up there. And I'm coming across the street, he spots me and I think he's. He waits for me, you know, he's like, how you doing, Jimmy? Doing good, coach. And are you going to. Going to class? There I go. Yeah, yeah. I wasn't class coach. And he says that. And he was just standing there. He's kind of nice, kind of just looked down at his shoes and he's like, you know, you might. You might be the best quarterback we've ever recruited to the University of Michigan, or you might be the biggest mistake we've ever made recruiting a quarterback. And then he just turned and started walking down State street because the building was that way, his office was that way. And I'm like, I'm left there. Like, you know, I didn't know how to take that.

There's some, like, there's a lot there.

Yeah. I mean, after I really kind of like, I'm gonna show them. Yeah, I'm gonna. They want to put me on the. Keep me on the scout team. I'm gonna make their lives miserable. Every fiber of my body's gonna. Gonna show them. And I did. And I did. You know, I think it was like the. It was the, you know, kind of the. The boost, the kick in the pan that I really needed. And he knew just. He knew just how to. Just how to do it because that motivated me in a.

That's so cool. The duality of, like, you could be the greatest recruit in Michigan or you could be the, you know, like, I just think there's. There's a challenge in there somewhere.

So on true football, you saw something in Alex that was not seen beforehand. What was it that you saw in that moment where you guys go out, you go start to play catch, right? And you get to know him and then all of a sudden you're like, maybe this could be my guy. What was it that you thought was, like, not seen in him that you got to see when you took him on as your starting qb?

Well, I think everybody always saw it. I mean, he's the number one pick at the draft for. For the. The Wonderlic score or whatever. I mean, it was like one of the highest of all time. You know, it was like. I mean, you check in. You check in every box. I mean, the athleticism, the leadership, the toughness. I really. I really love that this was just an extra grittiness toughness to Alex, the way his teammates spoke about him. Yeah, I mean, the Staley's and the Boones and the Frank Gore's and the Bowmans and the Willises. I felt pretty darn confident that this was our guy.

This is a kick him in the shins moment, as coach would say. Yeah, kick him in his chins is when people start talking good about you.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

Your journey as a coach is so unique because, like, the traditional route to become a quote unquote head coach is like, get into quality control and then you become a position coach and then you become a coordinator. And then after some hard work, maybe you get a job to become a head coach. But this head coaching job is like, it's unique.

Right.

And it's not. Becoming a coordinator doesn't necessarily prepare you to do this. You decided. I know you were a position coach for a couple years, but you decided pretty quickly. It's like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna go be a head coach. And you went to USD and then you've had. This is your fifth stop. Like, I'm not sure there's anybody in, certainly in football that's gone and done this five times. Like, you have, maybe not even in the business world. What made you make that leap of faith? Like, I'm just gonna go, I want to go coach. Be a head coach.

Yeah. You probably like to think that it's a lot more well thought out. You know, something gets in my head that, like, I want that or I want that, you know, that. That challenge or like, you know, I mean, am I man enough to. Am I man enough to come back to the National Football League? And you talk about the coaches that are in the National Football League right now. I mean, it's dog eat dog. And I feel like I'm wearing milk bone underwear. You know, like Andy Reid, John Harval, Mike Tomlin, Sean McVeigh. I mean, it's just every single guy. Kevin O'. Connell. It's Guy after guy after guy. I mean, no matter whatever they did to get there, they are incredible. Ben Johnson. I mean, you can, you can name them all. Brian Callahan. Every. Every single guy. Pete.

Yeah.

Your division. Sean Payton.

Sean Payton. Okay, well, am I man enough to do that? Yeah, that was this one and some other things. Justin Herbert and a few other things.

Things.

But I think back then I was so. I was quarterback coaching at the Raiders. That's what they were kind of offering me for that, for that next year. You know, I started off quality control, and I was, I was going that. But it felt a lot like just it being a backup quarterback. That's what I did, you know, like that last year or two in the NFL. And, and, and I love that I felt I could do it. But, like, am I man enough to go, you know, like, decide how we're going to block the power play? You know, are we going to we going to arc it or are we going to, you know, we gotta. Are we gonna. Are we going to take our tight end and block him down on the 6 tech? Is he man enough to do that? Can we, can we. You know, can I, can I, can I do it? You know, so, like, just to be the person that, you know, okay. Like, has to make those decisions, I felt that's what I needed, you know, to grow as a, As a coach.

Which I think is so interesting because again, there's so many people. Like, the route, the conventional route in the NFL or colleges is like, not that, but in fact, I think in some ways, like, you were more prepared than anybody.

Yeah.

And you wanted to see if, you know, some of the ideas you have, you know, instead of being the, hey, do you think this would be a good idea?

Yeah, totally.

Nobody's ever done that. That's never been done. Why would we even think about doing it that way? The way we're doing. It's fine. Like, I think that would be a really good idea. I think I'd like to be the.

Nobody's had a team meeting on the golden rule. Like, we have.

You know, I got a little addendum to that one too. Now. Do you? Yeah. You know, we're going to treat people as you would want to be treated, you know, the golden rule. And you know, that's, that's really high up there in the, in the rules. I want to treat other people the way I want to be treated in this sense, too. Too. Like, if you tell me how I'm doing, Alex, like, I'm gonna tell you. Okay. Be honest, but with one caveat. Not so honest that it ruins the rest of my day. That really ruins my day. So that's kind of my latest. I'm trying to treat people in that kind of way too. I want to be honest because I think that is the absolute best motivator, you know, that is, is all the other ones have been tried. I'm gonna be honest. But I mean, not. Not to the point where it just, you know, ruins. Ruins somebody's day. Like, for example, Robbie, if I got a, you know, I just, I just got a haircut, I. I think it's pretty good. But like, you know, somebody gets a haircut, they think it's pretty good, you know, you're gonna tell. That's a heck of a good looking haircut. You. God, where'd you get that? Where'd you get that haircut? You know, and if they, they have a bad haircut, you Know, then. Then you say, ah, it'll grow back.

Yeah.

You know, there's. There's a way to say something. There's a way. There's a way to say something. Why make an enemy when you can make a friend? Totally.

Is there. Had you always known? Because I think one of the amazing things when I played for you, and I think it was like universal because you get this buy in, right? And I think people wonder, how do you get it? And I like, right, that's kind of the magic sauce. But I think everybody feels seen, right? And there's some magic to like the birthday thing. Like every single person in the organization got. Got their birthday. You remembered their birthday. You made a point of it. You. I remember you telling me how many days I'd been alive.

Pretty important thing.

How many days I'd been alive. I didn't even know how many days I'd been alive. Like he did the mask, you know, like the wise one words, right? Where like, every single person in this core is going to talk, like, get up in front of the team and just say, like, what's on your mind? What's this team mean to you? Right? Like we had the quote board where it took turns and it cycled and you could put, you know, music lyrics or like, I don't know, I just felt. It was the first time that I think we all felt like it didn't matter if you're the left guard, the quarterback, the place kicker, like, you know, like that you mattered.

It's. It's kind of, you know, you treat people how you want to be treated. It goes back to that in a sense. But like, yeah, birthdays matter to me. You know, I want somebody like, yeah, hey, it's my birthday. You know, like, you know, I feel pretty good about myself. You know, I just punched my ticket for another trip around the sun. I mean, I get another 365 days. Let's, you know, let's go. Yeah. Or to be heard, you know, I mean, wanted a seat at table. I mean, I grew up without a seat at the table. I mean, I grew up like, as a kid, like, nobody looking at you. You got crooked teeth. I mean, you're just like. People think you're just. Don't. Don't even. You don't even matter. You know, but now you're. You're. You're an NFL football player. You know, by now, I mean, you. You got a seat at the table, Alex. Yeah, you know, I got a seat at the table because of this great game of Football, I mean, it just, all those things, it just, it comes down to like, like my grandmother used to say, she said you two are like, you're like two peas in a pod, you know, we're two peas in a pod in a very unique pod, you know, on a ball team, you know, in the National Football League. I think like you. You think like me. I know you would chew off your left arm. Not your right arm, but you would chew off your left arm if it would, if it would help us win a football game. That's the way I am. That's the way Justin Herbert is. That's the way Frank Gore is. You know, I mean, we're all, we're all the same. I mean, we don't want high maintenance. We want, we want the challenge. We want the accountability. We want the challenge, for gosh sakes, we want to just compete, you know, like one of those thoroughbreds at a, at the Kentucky Derby, you know, I can see it, you know. Yeah, it's two minutes before a game, you know, I see Alex Smith's heart going like that. My heart's going like this and he's in a froth, and I'm in a froth and I got, you know, nose bubbles coming out of my nose. I mean, got a, got a lather going. I mean, let's go, let's go. You know, we're all like, we're just the same.

I just, like, this is like, I was trying to explain. I'll never forget you. In one of the team meetings, you read us the man in the arena. Yeah, the Teddy Roosevelt quote. And I will never forget, like. But you didn't just read it. Like you could tell how much it meant to you. And like when you get to the end and it was like the cold, timid souls, you know, they just don't know this, what you're talking about. And then I've had a ton of coaches, but there's this like, I call them good luck coaches, right? Like before the game, you be, it would just kind of like tap you on the way out and be like, hey, good luck, you know, And I remember, like looking around, you're like, what the hell? Aren't you going out there with me? Right? Like, you know, like, aren't you. Are we in this together? And, and, and so different again the first game. And like, obviously it's, it's got attention or now, but like, I'll never forget, like getting ready for that first game and you coming over and just, you know, all of a sudden you're getting jacked up. And again, like, obviously you couldn't go run out there anymore, but like, you wanted to. This doesn't last forever, right? And like get it like that gratefulness. And again, in a time when like, it was, it, it was heavy. But like your example, like that modeling, like the behavior, like it's infectious.

Even just related to that. We've freaking come in wearing these shirts. He's wearing a manning quarter zip, right? And what is the first thing he does? He's like, oh, should I go get mine?

I can't be outdone. I can't be outdone by you guys.

That's the buy in. It's like, okay, we're in it, let's go. Like, I'm not going to stay on the sideline.

Well, like you said, I mean, those poor timid souls are like Shakespeare, you know. Gentlemen of England, now Abed will think themselves accursed. They were not here and hold their manhoods cheap whilst any speaks who fought with us upon Saint Crispian's Day. I mean, we get to do this, we get this opportunity to be a hero. You know, you get to go out there and be a hero for your ball team. And you don't just have to be a pro football player to have that. You can be the hero in your home for your dad, for your kids, for your wife. You know that guy that's standing guard, you know, who's going to protect our children's, you know, their wide open hearts that this world just wants to step all over. You know, who's going to protect them from? I will, I will. I'll stand guard. We can do that in our, in our homes, in our communities, in our country, in our, in our, in our jobs. I mean, there's opportunities literally just facing you all day to save the damsel in distress or protect the innocent, you know, the bully that's over there. I mean, yeah, who's going to stand up to that guy? This guy, you know, I mean, we all have, we all have that. We all have that opportunity. And football team, you got that opportunity too. But it's not exclusive to those that play in the, in the NFL.

Coach, I have two things for you. One, I want to tell you what, we did this with Coach K. And one thing that's so similar with you and with him is the consistency of the enthusiasm. Shane told Coach K, he's like, I played for you for four years. I've seen you for multiple decades. He's like, I've literally Never seen you have a bad day. Alex said the same thing about you. It's amazing and awesome. That consistency of the enthusiasm and the authenticity of it is really unique. And it's came up with Coach K also, which is just cool.

You know how you do that?

Enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, you act enthusiastic. Yeah, by golly, am I enthusiastic. You know, that's how you do it.

Yeah, you just do it. Alex talks about this and now I've stolen it, too. Which is the thing you say before the game to the players, right Now I say this to my sons. I have three sons, 12, 12 and 10. Every time, they have an athletic thing. They're super into sports. I say what you said. Play as hard as you can, play as fast as you can, for as long as you can, and don't worry. Right. And we've taken that directly from you.

We had to keep your wits about you.

Okay?

Keep your wits about you as hard as you can, as fast as you can, as long as you can, keep your wits about you and don't worry.

Why did you put in the don't worry? Because the other ones, they make total sense to me. The don't worry is so unique and so good, and it's so human. But where did that one come from?

My brother John has this. Is this saying work and don't worry? Which is which? I always, always like that. I always like that. Why I love that one so much is because, you know, if anything happens to you or if you're worried about something or something bad happens to you, or something good happens to you, whatever motion, emotion you're feeling, you feel wronged in some way, fill in the blank with how you're feeling, how you're feeling, or nervous. Go find some work to do. You know, if you're at home, go find some work in the. In the house, there's plenty to be done. Or out in the yard, you know, maybe that motion's anger. Go find some work to do. If I'm at work, I'm going to find some work to do. You know, if I'm feeling that a certain way, and I find that when I do work that clears my mind and cleanses my soul. And half the time, 50% of the time while I'm doing that work, the answer to what's bothering me, like, oh, wow, if I just do this, or if I just look at it from this perspective and it just hits you, it just out of the blue hits you as you're cleansing your soul and clearing your mind if you're worried, go work. Yeah, let's work.

When you would say that before games, like, I. I've said this. Like, I thought you were, like, talking directly to me, right? Because I felt like I had just spent five years of worrying, you know, like, just worrying, you know, like, what if this, what if that? Like, again, like, you're just a model. Like, your head's just in all these places, like, all these emotions. You're saying there was nothing special, just work. There was power in that for me.

I mean, we've all been in the quiet places our mind, and we. We think about these things, and that's what works for me. That's all I can tell you. And the good part about it, when you're working, like, you're either making money or you're saving money. So there's an added. There's a nice little added bonus there. So, you know, the other thing that resonates with me is that, like, I'm Catholic, Christian, and, you know, I'm on. In Jesus We Trust, you know, it's. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all else will be added onto you. But, like, we're an Easter people. We've won. Jesus, you know, defeated death, you know, it's already been won, but we so much act like a Good Friday people, you know, like. Like, yeah, like death. And this. This. This idea that we're racing to. We're racing to, you know, it's a race, you know, we got to. You know, we got to fight our way to the finish line and to. To win. You know, like, we're running to victory, but really we should be running from victory. The victory's already been won. Let's run and tell everybody the good news here. We're victorious. Yeah. You know, and we can have. We could really have heaven right here. Right here on earth with just how we love and how we share love and how we treat others, you know, because the other way is hell. You know, when you're depressed and, you know, you.

And it's usually one or the other. Like, I've always liked, to your point, like, I would view it as a coin and, like, as these external triggers come at us.

Yeah, Right.

Like, it can take you. Like, you know, it takes you to one or the other.

It kind of goes back to who's got it better than us? Yes. Who's got it better than us? Who's got it worse than us?

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. And again, I think the beauty of being on a team, you can be this for one Another, if you're down in the dumps and, like, all of a sudden, like, your example, right. And your enthusiasm is infectious and affects the teammate next to you, the co worker next to you. Like, it has. You know, it's. It is a ripple effect.

If I'm ever having it down, all I got to do is go down and, where's Derwin? Where's Derwin James? We just go. We just go find out what Derwin thinks. You know, somebody maybe that we wanted here, you know, that didn't come. And Coach Derwin called coach. Don't worry about him. I got him. I got him. I know you do, Derwin. Thanks. Appreciate it. Okay, who can have it better? Who can have it better? Right?

On that note, the show is called Glue Guys. Like, we celebrate Glue Guys. Like, the people not just on the team, but in life. Like, you know, for me, like, I talked about, like, Blake Costanzo.

Yeah.

You know, when he was with us, like, this guy, like, ran down on. Freaking kicked off, but he, like. Like, his life, he changed.

He.

He had a profound effect on me. Right. And then, like, we have him in our personal life, too. But the one thing we ask, like, all our guests, like, who. And for you, it could be different because you've coached a lot of teams.

Yeah.

Right. But, like, the. The glue guys are glue people in your life.

There's never just one. Right. I mean, it's always.

Yeah, it could be a few. Yeah.

I got. Everything in my life now is a tough top five or 10. You know, it's like, you know, who's better, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? You know, hey, they're both good. You know, like, I'm not going to diminish either one of them by saying, I mean, they're both. They're both. They're both great. My mom and dad, I mean, they're. They're the two that have poured the most into me and. And my wife Sarah. I mean, they're all right there at that. At that. At that level. My brother John. My sister Joanie. Yeah. Just talking to Joni today. My grandparents, Bill and Marie Harbaugh. Joe Sapiti, Jesse Sapiti. So many. And so many teachers, so many coaches. One minute conversation I had with Pope Francis. You know, there's. The list would be. The list would be probably into a thousands. You know, the players on this team and the coaches, they're my football mentors. My son, Jay Harbaugh, he's coaching at the Seahawks. He's a special teams coordinator there. I mean, we were talking about Rookie minicamp. Hey, what do you think about this? And I go, you're not going to believe this, Jay, but at three o' clock this morning, I woke up, I had the epiphany of how to do this rookie minicamp. And it's exactly what you're telling me that you thought of today. So what I think of that is, and then we batting around, and I'm walking all over the house. I was up the stairs in the backyard, that I'm outside that I'm, like, laughing and we're talking and what about this? And, you know, like. And I hung up that phone and I was like, this is, like, probably 10,000 calls that I've had with my own dad, Jack Harbaugh, through the years when I was a player and a coach and bouncing ideas off of my dad. And to have that same kind of talk with Jay, you know, was really incredible.

Your dad is extraordinarily inspirational to us because of the impact he's had on you and also the fact that you're in the family business, so to speak. But you love it. You're not there out of obligation, you're there out of love. And I think that, like, that for us, we think about that a lot for our kids, of how do you just make sure that they're doing something that they would approach with that kind of enthusiasm, you know? And your dad, he did a good job.

Do you have that one figured out? Yeah, we wish.

But my kids are. They're good. They're good. Our kids are good.

There's one piece of advice on there in the rules, and it's. It's Cats in the Cradle. Do you see that one?

So listen and learn from Cats in the Cradle.

There you go, right there. So just. I just keep that tune in my head all day, and I. And I whistle it because you come home from a totally. From a day's work, you know, and you just want to. And you get. And you do it and you sit down and you go like that. And then, hey, Dan, you want to play catch? Yeah. Yeah, I want to play catch. Yes, I do want to play catch. Come on, get the glove. Get the ball. Because, you know, I just don't want to. I don't want to end up being that guy.

You know, we've talked about this, coach. I literally have a rule now which is for my entire life, I am literally never going to say no if they ask me to play catch. Not once, because at some point, they won't ask. You know what I'm Saying. And I'm like, no, no, no. I want you to know, listen to.

Cats in the Cradle. They may not come back and visit. You just want to give me the car keys, dad. See you later. Can I have them, please? You know, so I got to share one thing. Can I share this with you? So the best darn job is being a dad. There couldn't be a better one. So I heard the best sentence in the English language four days ago. My wife said, go wake up. Go wake up with the kids. You know, they're not up yet. The boys aren't up yet. So I go into my son's room. They got Jack and John. They share a room, of course. And so I go in there. I wake up, johnny, Johnny, time to get up for school. He goes, here's the best sentence in the. Dad, you want to play catch out of a dead sleep? You know I do.

Yeah.

So I, I take the covers. I pull it back. He's got his glove.

I was sleeping with it.

Sleeping with it. Yeah. It was, he was, he was sleeping on his side, and he had his glove right there. Ah. And then he, he got up and a ball rolled so good, and we went out. We went out and had a, Had a cat.

So good.

What do you think of Ted Lasso? I learned today that that is inspired by you. I did not know that. What do you think of the show?

I love it. Yeah, it's, it's. I, I, I don't know if they've ever made a better show. It is, I mean, I, I, the little hairs of my arm.

Yeah.

Stand up. That dart scene.

Oh, it's so good. It's so good.

Whoa, whoa. With when Jason is doing that dart scene, it just builds to it and boom.

Be curious, not judgmental.

Be curious, not judgmental. So good.

When he told me that you were the inspiration for that character, I felt simultaneously so shocked and so not shocked. Right. I was like, how did I not know that? And then I'm like, that's so true. It's incredible.

We did talk, you know, we had. We had conversations. He would call kind of like what I wore. He was kind of interested in that. I was definitely like, hey, you know, you could, you could do something like this or you could do something like this. You know, here's something. You know, none of it, none of the suggestions made, any made any of the shows, but they, I mean, that show is so good. I mean, they knocked it completely out of the.

It's a show that they hit it.

So far that you could run around the bases twice.

Yeah. It's a show that fills you up, you know, like, when it's over, like, you. How many shows can do that? But, like, you feel positive. It's like, redeeming. You feel. You feel enthusiastic, you know?

You nailed it. You nailed it right there.

So. I appreciate this so much.

So much for you.

Yeah, this is.

Thanks for having me on.

Awesome, man.

All right. Thanks for wearing the shirts.

Yours is on the way.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I gotta have.

Love you. I love you, man.