Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh defends tweet to Ohio State AD

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said he waited several hours before sending a scathing tweet toward Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith last week.

Harbaugh was responding to Smith’s assertion that Michigan needed to hold its spring football in Florida in an effort to jumpstart the program.

“If we were jumpstarting our program I’d probably try to do that too, but we’re not jumpstarting our program,” Smith said. “We’re at a different place.”

Several hours later, Harbaugh tweeted:

	Coach Harbaugh @CoachJim4UM
Good to see Director Smith being relevant again after the tattoo fiasco. Welcome back! 5:52 PM - 22 Mar 2016

Of course, Harbaugh was referencing Ohio State’s assorted NCAA violations in 2011 stemming from allegations that players traded memorabilia for tattoos and cash.

Smith issued two tweets Wednesday apologizing and stating his comments were not meant to “discredit our rival,” but the damage had already been done and Harbaugh said he wasn’t going to back down from the way he defended his program.

“It felt like one got shot over our bow,” Harbaugh said after spring practice at Ford Field on Saturday. “It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction. I waited a good eight, nine hours and figured they might consider that it could be construed a certain way toward our program. Actually some of the scribes and pundits were construing it that way. So when no explanation came, thought it was time to fire one over their bow.

“Consider things even right now.”

New Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said last week he spoke with both Smith and Harbaugh. Harbaugh noted Saturday that he and Manuel saw the situation “exactly the same way.”