Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer beefed over the biggest rivalry in college football... and milk.

(intriguing dramatic music) - [Narrator] For a long time, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh weren't all that different. In fact, both men were born six months apart in the same hospital, in the same town, Toledo, Ohio, a crucial border town in college football's greatest rivalry. Meyer is the true Ohioan who grew up dreaming of playing Buckeye football. He made it to Cincinnati as a player, but landed in Columbus as a graduate assistant in 1986 for the legendary Buckeyes head coach, Earle Bruce. And for the rest of his career, Meyer's goal was to one day return to his childhood favorite team. Harbaugh was born into Wolverine royalty. His father, Jack, was an assistant coach for Michigan's Bo Schembechler. Even at an early age, Jim was assumed to be Coach Bo's favorite Harbaugh child and eventually, Jim became the quarterback of the Wolverines, guiding Michigan to a Rose Bowl before spending 14 seasons as an NFL quarterback. Then he joined the family business, first as a volunteer assistant to help his dad during budget cuts at Western Kentucky. But while Meyer and Harbaugh surely carried their love of their home team throughout their successful careers, it didn't define their identity. That is until they chose to define themselves by it. And if you know anything about Michigan and Ohio State, you know their beef wasn't just inevitable, it was mandatory. (dramatic music) Both Meyer and Harbaugh led successful and near complete coaching lives before they found themselves representing the rivalry they grew up in. With an ascendant career (whimsical dramatic music) that produced two national titles at Florida, one over Ohio State, and a Heisman winning quarterback, Urban could have retired a college coaching legend before he'd ever arrived in Columbus, which is exactly what he did in January of 2011. But 11 months later, his dream job called him back to work. And despite the shadow of controversies he left behind in Florida, Meyer hit the ground running to rebuild the Buckeyes. That same year, Coach Jim Harbaugh was hired by the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, after creating a blueprint that turned an awful Stanford program into a legit Pac-10 power. And if not for a brutal clash with his own front office, Harbaugh seemed on track to coach out his days in the league, nowhere near the Big 10. In fact, in January of 2013, then Ohio State head coach, Urban Meyer complimented the offensive scheme of the 49ers, even crediting Harbaugh specifically. - [Urban Meyer] The San Francisco team, they actually do something we don't do. I can assure you we're gonna do it next year. (Dan chuckling) I mean, that's how good they were. And I just give credits off, to give credit to guys like Harbaugh and... - [Narrator] But two years removed from an NFC Championship, Harbaugh was out of the Bay by 2014, lured back to college to fix his alma mater, after nearly a decade of mediocrity and Ohio State dominance, thanks in large part to Meyer. Meyer didn't offer much more than a boilerplate pleasantry when Jim came home, because why would he? Ohio State was rolling. Things were good for Urban. By his third season in Columbus, Meyer was 38-3 overall and coached the Buckeyes to their first National Championship since 2002. Remember, it takes two to beef and one side of this epic rivalry had no reason to speak off the field. But the scoreboard wouldn't stop Harbaugh. In the 2015 recruiting cycle, Ohio State scored a win over Michigan by signing four star Detroit running back Mike Weber. In college football's other game, this was Meyer's first win over Harbaugh and he made note of it on national signing day. But as soon as Weber signed with Ohio State, the Buckeye assistant who recruited him left for a job with the Chicago Bears, leaving Weber feeling misled, Harbaugh, eager to establish rebuilding Michigan as the moral superior in the rivalry fired off a subtweet at Meyer. Without having coached a game for the U of M, Harbaugh was eager to set a narrative for both the national perception of his program and a rabid fan base, starved for something to feel superior about. Urban Meyer gets dirty and finds controversy, and that's how Ohio State wins. But Jim Harbaugh takes the high road and a harder path because that's how a Michigan man finds success. And even if you're a Buckeye fan, it's kind of hard to argue that assessment of Meyer. And Harbaugh? Well, hold that thought. Despite a 10 win debut as Michigan head coach, Harbaugh and the Wolverines were blown out by Meyer and Ohio State in 2015. Before the game, Jim offered a boring quote about Meyer, and then he smashed a Buckeye on Bo Schembechler's frozen tombstone, which is a totally normal thing to do in this sport, if we're being honest,. In their second off-season as rivals, Harbaugh went straight after Meyer in the media, over his choice of milk. First, it's important to note here that Jim Harbaugh loves milk. Jim Harbaugh loves it more than you do. Jim Harbaugh loves milk more than a toddler or a cow. Honestly, he makes it weird. While speaking on the "Dan Patrick Show", Harbaugh assailed Meyer's alleged moo juice preference of 1%. - [Dan Patrick] Urban Meyer drinks 1%, by the way. - [Jim Harbaugh] Well, we refuse to drink (Dan laughing) the candy-ass skim milk or the the 1%. We refuse. - [Dan Patrick] Oh. - [Jim Harbaugh] We won't have any of that. - [Narrator] So when Meyer and Ohio State won the game, again, in 2016 after an overtime controversy that knocked Michigan out of Big 10 championship consideration and college football playoff contingent. Meyer milked the moment when his wife called him during the post-game press conference. And for the next two years, which was the remainder of their on-field rivalry, Meyer did all the talking. And winning. Urban was curt when ESPN asked him about his relationship with Harbaugh in 2017, and that year's game rolled past with another Ohio State win and without any fun soundbites. But in 2018, Meyer spoke to a youth football camp with Harbaugh present and watching and rubbed his undefeated success over Michigan in the Michigan man's face, almost literally, claiming that when NFL coaches like Bill Belichick scout players, they want to know, "How does he perform in the big game? I wanna see it in your rivalry game. I wanna see it on fourth down, when the team needs you. The big game. Man, the big one. The one that matters." In his final season as OSU's coach, Meyer served a three game suspension after an investigation determined he mishandled domestic assault allegations against one of his assistants, certifying the narrative Harbaugh and Michigan had pushed all along. Again, in control of their conference and national title destiny entering the game, Michigan was blown out when Ohio State scored 62 points. That high road the Michigan man was determined to take, it was a long and winding one. Meyer retired again in 2019, but this time, with a perfect 7-0 record against Michigan and 4-0 specifically against Harbaugh. Now with an unassailable legacy in the game intact, Urban offered some friendly comments about his vanquished rival and his family, calling Harbaugh, "An excellent coach and a really good person." Okay. A few weeks later, Harbaugh, now relieved of Meyer's dominance, but burdened with a Michigan fan base furious at his inability to beat their rival and bring the program back to glory, well, he wasn't as kind. "Urban Meyer's had a winning record, but also controversy follows everywhere he's been." There it was. After years of table setting and dancing around his intent, Harbaugh said the thing, and just a few days after his comments, he doubled down at a media event. "I don't think it was anything that was new or anything of a bombshell. It's a thing that you all understand and have written about. It was me saying what I think. I don't see why people are so afraid to say what they think." That same summer, Harbaugh expanded his attack beyond Meyer and Ohio State, telling Michigan writer John U. Bacon, quote: "It's hard to beat the cheaters," in reference to recruiting players against the Southeastern Conference. That season, Meyer's former offensive coordinator, Ryan Day led the Buckeyes to a 56-27 win over Harbaugh, now 0-5 against Ohio State. But even while two of his daughters mocked Harbaugh's controversy comment and OSU's latest win on social media, Meyer opted to say nothing in response. And why should he? The actual battle between coaches was over and Urban won in a blowout, even as his dubious track record was accurately criticized during this period, Meyer never clapped back, because... scoreboard. The closest thing Meyer came to saying anything about Harbaugh after retirement came in 2020 when he talked about letting his players run up the score in rivalry games. "This is gonna create a lot of headlines," he admitted. And that could have been it, a clean and simple story of two easily understandable characters, a lopsided result, and a tale of doing most of your talking on the field, until both men failed to become a version of the other. Meyer unretired again to become the head coach of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. What followed was one of the worst head coaching tenures in the history of the modern game. Meyer didn't last the season, finishing 2-11 in a controversial campaign, to say the least. The move to coach Jacksonville offered Meyer no success, but did add a fresh coat of grime over his reputation. He quickly retreated back to his TV gig where, a year later, he declared, "It's time to blow it up" at Michigan. "I think it's time to really evaluate the culture and dig deep. There's something going on." Meanwhile, Harbaugh finished just 2-4 in a COVID-shortened 2020 season. Thankfully for him, the game was canceled as Ohio State marched to the college football playoff. But then, finally, in 2021, Michigan beat Ohio State for the first time in six tries under Jim Harbaugh. (jaunty music) And for good measure, the Wolverines went back-to-back in '22, thumping the Buckeyes in Columbus for the first time since 2000. In both seasons, U of M won the Big 10 conference and secured a college football playoff berth, further advancing Harbaugh's quest to return the program to the top of the sport. And in 2023, Michigan did just that, beating Ohio State for a third straight time, and defeating Alabama and Washington in the college football playoff to win the program's first National Championship since 1997. Ever the Michigan man, Harbaugh's mission to restore his alma mater the right way had been realized, uh, except we need to back up a few months, because... the same man, so quick to cast character aspersions at rivals, spent half of the regular season suspended, after it was realized Michigan football staffers orchestrated a years-long espionage operation to steal opposing team's signals, including dressing in disguises and sending staffers to games of upcoming opponents. Suddenly, the man willing to call out the cheaters coached his first national championship season with controversy following him around everywhere. And it's that moment when the man least likely to defend Jim Harbaugh did exactly that. Urban Meyer told a national television audience, "This is insanity," in reference to Harbaugh missing the Ohio State Michigan game in 2023, and that he didn't trust the media when it came to reporting on Michigan's sign-stealing scandal. Granted, Urbs got a few light shots in at the Michigan fanbase's stance that sign stealing was a ubiquitous practice. "I've never heard of that in 40 years of being around the game. If they know your signals, it is that important. You're changing the game." But even in that moment, Meyer refused to pile on Harbaugh, saying, "That's very egregious if that's what happened. I'm not saying it did, because I'm still skeptical it did." Call it honor amongst controversials, but the only aggressive comment Meyer made about Harbaugh in a moment dripping with irony at his expense was genuine concern that Jim wouldn't get to coach in the 2023 edition of "The Game." Honestly, it made sense Meyer would sidestep commenting about his rival and bring it back to the game, because Jim Harbaugh was never wrong. Urban Meyer's hands stayed among the dirtiest in the entire sport during his multi title run. (gloomy music) But when it mattered most against the man who questioned his morals the loudest, Urban was spotless. That's where he won the argument. (tile clunking) (soft organ music)