Bret Bielema reveals he has not spoken with Jim Harbaugh since January dispute

Bret Bielema revealed that he has not spoken to Jim Harbaugh since their dispute, he said on Friday’s Pardon My Take. Bielema called out Harbaugh after an old video of him surfaced regarding cheating. 

Harbaugh is entering his second year with the Los Angeles Chargers, but Bielema didn’t forget when he left Michigan after winning a national championship. With the sign stealing allegations hanging over the program, it appears on the surface that Harbaugh got out at the right time.

Of course, a viral video of Harbaugh with the San Francisco 49ers came to light with the coach saying “if you cheat to win, then you’ve already lost.” Bielema had fun with that one but hasn’t spoken to Harbaugh since then or before.

“I have not talked to Jim,” Bielema said. “I never really had a problem with him, but it was just that moment, that scenario. Actually his strength coach, Ben Herbert … When I got let go to Arkansas, Jim hired four of my strength coaches to Michigan and that’s kind of when they made their turn. I got respect, I love his family, love his dad, they’re good people.”

Just one Illinois-Michigan matchup had both Bielema and Harbaugh on the sidelines, resulting in a win for the Wolverines. It was a close one though, as Michigan escaped with a last-minute field goal a week before the Ohio State game in 2022. They went on to win the Big Ten, and make the College Football Playoff but lost to TCU in the semifinal.

But for context, the original Harbaugh quote can be seen below. It’s a doozy considering how Bielema phrased his callout.

“You always want to be above approach,” Harbaugh said. “Especially when you’re good because you don’t want people coming back and saying ‘Oh they’re winning because they’re cheating.’ We want to be above the approach in everything, play by the rules. If you cheat to win then you’ve already lost.”

That’s when Bielema questioned Harbaugh for leaving. Although he didn’t quite call him out directly on social media.

“Really…. Why did you leave,” Bielema wrote on Twitter in January. “Was looking forward to playing but understand why you ran to the NFL. See you in the future and can’t wait.”

Unless Bielema chases Harbaugh in the NFL, we won’t see this matchup again. Too bad we couldn’t get too much of the coaches being pitted against one another. It would’ve been pure college football theater.