Michigan's Jim Harbaugh preaches impact of 'national champion' effect - ESPN

HOUSTON — For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, a win against Washington in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday would be an «overwhelming» experience because of how many people it would impact.

«It would mean so much for our players, for them to know what it's like to be champions,» Harbaugh said. «Just be simply referred to as national champions.

»And for their parents to have their son be a champion, a national champion; for their grandparents to have a grandson; for their brothers and sisters to have a brother who is a [national champion]."

Harbaugh downplayed the idea he cared about how the win would impact his own legacy, but acknowledged he cares deeply about how his family would be able to revel in a Wolverines title.

«What it would mean to me, for my kids to know their dad is a national champion and for my parents and my brother and my sister,» Harbaugh said. «That's the overwhelming thing, just that so many people would be able to enjoy that, be a part of that.

»For my wife, for her husband to be a national champion. For me, not so much, but for everybody else, yeah, that would be huge."

Harbaugh, in his ninth season as the head coach at Michigan, has previously been named the NFL Coach of the Year and the AP College Football Coach of the Year but has yet to coach a team beyond a conference or division title in four head coaching stops (FCS San Diego, Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers and Michigan).

Harbaugh and Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, during the coaches news conference on Sunday, took turns trading compliments about each other's programs in what became an exercise in civility.

When asked about what his message would be to his players if he were to depart for a NFL job, Harbaugh paid