"I don’t want to see him anymore”: Paul Finebaum cites sleep deprivation as reason for Jim Harbaugh Rose Bowl praise

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum hopes Jim Harbaugh will stay put in the NFL for the foreseeable future.

Harbaugh led the Michigan Wolverines to the college football national championship during the recently concluded season and has since agreed to terms to coach the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL.

Finebaum has been known to be critical of Harbaugh, however, after the Wolverines defeated Alabama in the Rose Bowl, he had nothing but praise for the head coach:

"This is truly remarkable. I don’t want to be wrong about something. You never want to be wrong. But if you’re ever going to be epically wrong, out of this constellation, out of this universe wrong, I’ll take it,” Finebaum said, via Saturday Tradition. “And I think Jim Harbaugh has silenced all those who doubted him in the early days."

Shortly after Harbaugh got the job with the Chargers, Finebaum spoke to Tim May of Lettermen Row and appeared to distance himself from his earlier stance. In a remarkable turn of events, the 68-year-old said that he was "sleep-deprived" when he made the comment.

"He has to be gone because I don’t want to see him anymore,” Finebaum said. “I mean, I did this mea culpa the day after the Rose Bowl where I said I’ve never made a bigger mistake in my life. I’ll now add to that, just for clarification, I said that on national television. I was sleep-deprived.

“I got up early on Sunday morning in Pasadena, I went to the game, flew back overnight, didn’t sleep, took a shower and did that show. So whatever I said about Jim Harbaugh, I have no recollection of whatsoever.”

Harbaugh agreed to a five-year deal with the Chargers, so it is safe to assume that he will not be returning to college football anytime soon.

Jim Harbaugh's coaching career at Michigan

Jim Harbaugh took over as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines in 2015 and went 10-3 in his first year with the program.

Harbaugh ended up leading Michigan to a co-Big Ten East championship in 2018, but the program really took off in 2021.

After a 2-4 season in 2020, Michigan went 12-2 in 2021 and won the Big Ten title, and followed it up going 13-1 with another Big Ten title in 2022. Harbaugh finally got over the hump during his last season and led Michigan to the national championship.