Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh: Here's why you shouldn't eat chicken

Kirkland Crawford | Detroit Free Press

Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh has reset the bar on quirkiness as a college football coach.

His tenure at U-M has been more memorable for sleeping over at a recruit's house or jumping into a pool fully clothed (with trademark Khakis) or sharing with the public he once ate cold cereal with Gatorade instead of milk than, say, winning huge football games.

We may have a new entry in the quirky column.

The Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes has a long U-M football preview that focuses on new quarterback Shea Patterson. Buried deep in that epic is this nugget from former Michigan QB Wilton Speight, who has since transferred to UCLA.

"Early in his Michigan tenure, Harbaugh pulled Speight aside and told him not to eat chicken, a protein that is considered fairly safe by nutritionists. When Speight asked why, Harbaugh said, 'because it's a nervous bird.' "

Wait, what? Oh, we get it. Chicken. Nervous. Of course.

It goes deeper than that, though.

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"He thinks some type of sickness injected its way into the human population when people began eating white meats instead of beef and pork," Speight said, according to the Bleacher Report story. "And he believes it, 100 percent."

Oh. OK.

So, don't expect to see Harbaugh at your local chicken restaurant anytime soon.