When Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh dipped his toe into the political pool last month, the college football world took notice.
With few exceptions, college coaches avoid political stances because they have no idea how it could negatively impact their recruiting.
Harbaugh's tweet _ "I hope reports that White House trying to defund Legal Services Corp aren't true. LSC is CRUCIAL to making justice system fair. (Hashtag)LSCmatters" _ raised eyebrows.
It was about his concern regarding the potential new federal budget, which the Trump administration reportedly proposed defunding legal aid for the underprivileged.
But in a conversation with Politico magazine, posted Saturday, Harbaugh said he felt it was important to stand up for what he believes.
"I'm not saying this as a football coach, I'm saying this as an American, I'm for America first," he said.
When told that was a Trump slogan, he said he didn't know that.
He said he has not spoken to President Trump since his tweet.
But he has talked to former President Barack Obama, who Harbaugh got to know in the final years of that administration, including attending an Obama rally last November in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh served on an educational task force, the "Reach Higher" campaign led by First Lady Michelle Obama and that was the topic of his conversation with the former president.
Harbaugh joined a board with the Legal Services Corporation last year and had a meeting in Atlanta (along with baseball legend Hank Aaron and civil rights activist/former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young) to discuss the topic and knew his voice could potentially draw some attention.
He expanded on his stance in the story and said the response to his tweet was "Mostly positive, varying to some degree of people's awareness."
"There's issues that people just don't understand," he said. "One of the biggest issues that got me most fired up is how fines and fees are being used to punish the poor. I've learned how the devastating effect it can have on lives of low income Americans."
He added he would be glad to explain his stance to the administration and Trump if asked.
Don't expect him to become a political commentator, though. He said working for the university "it's recommended _ I work at a public university _ to be apolitical. As I've told you before, this is a bipartisan issue. It's an American issue and I'm allowed to be an American."
