U-M's Harbaugh opens media day by honoring Ditka

CHICAGO -- The Big Ten media days are a steady diet of the same stuff at the podium, one coach after another vaguely answers questions.

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh changed that up a bit this morning, back in the city where he started his professional football career, when asked about his relationship with his Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, for whom he played in 1987-92.

"I had a chance to spend the evening with Coach at his restaurant. Diane (Ditka's wife) was there, (my wife) Sarah was there, it was special to be with my coach," Harbaugh said. "In fact, I picked up a Ditka jersey at the restaurant."

He held up the jersey, catching the attention of the room. "He probably wore that," Harbaugh said.

The Chicago tie continued as he and Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald solidified their mutual admiration, built when they were recruiting similar high-level academic players while Harbaugh was at Stanford. Then Fitzgerald was the only Big Ten coach to take Harbaugh up on the offer to come to Ann Arbor to speak at U-M's summer high school camp.

"I think a lot of him," Harbaugh said. "He's climbing another rung. Just being around him for half a day and him coming to speak at our camp and had a lot of great things to say. A lot resonated with the coaches and the youngsters. It was great. He's a tough competitor. From the moment I met him, I sized him up and said, 'This guy was really good.'"

Rutgers coach Kyle Flood, meanwhile, quickly dismissed the notion of Harbaugh getting a lot of attention, pointing out that his New Jersey media traveled to Chicago and that his school has the New York market.

Fitzgerald had no problems, saying, "There's no such thing as bad publicity. I think he's just excited to coach his team. ... I'm sure he's handled it quite well."

Notes: Harbaugh was asked whether he'll have a unique reference for Ohio State, like Brady Hoke saying, "Ohio," and he said no. He will call the Buckeyes "Ohio State." ... Asked what he thinks about Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, he called him "a great coach and a gentleman." ... Harbaugh said he had no reaction to the SEC's complaints about U-M's satellite camps, saying "people probably made more out of that than it was." ... Asked about his 1986 guarantee of a win over Ohio State, he dismissed the question, asking to focus on the 2015 team.

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder.