Jim Harbaugh kept his promise.
On Saturday, the former Michigan football coach got a tattoo — an “M” for the university along with their 2023-24 15-0 record below it — in honor of the team’s College Football Playoff national championship victory over Washington.
During the run to the title game that saw the Wolverines dominate, 34-13, Harbaugh made a promise for the inking if the team continued their undefeated tear.
“I said that I would get a tattoo,” Harbaugh said after defeating Washington. “I have no ink on my body. No tattoos anywhere, but I did say that to our players. I said if we go 15-0, I’m getting a tattoo. It’s 15-0.”
On Saturday, Harbaugh explained how he felt about it.
“I can see once you get one, you might want to start adding. Put a rose on it,” the current Chargers head coach joked around on Saturday after coming back to Ann Arbor during Michigan’s spring game.
“I’m impervious to pain.”
Harbaugh also wanted to get an “M” tattooed for the occasion because it also means 1,000 in Roman numerals, and Michigan became the first football program to win 1,000 games, something the Wolverines accomplished against Maryland in November.
Tattoo artist Stephen Bateman out of Grand Rapids got the job done for Harbaugh and posted on Instagram after the memorable moment.
“Go Blue! 15-0 thanks Jim Harbaugh for having me out!!” Bateman wrote.
After his successful year with Michigan — his ninth season with the Wolverines — there was much debate if Harbaugh would jump back to the NFL or if he would accept a 10-year, $125 million contract to make him one of college football’s highest-paid coaches.
In the end, he chose the NFL, and his Chargers contract is worth $16 million annually over five years, which puts him only behind Sean Payton, who makes $18 million per season.