Jim Harbaugh might be coaching on Sundays now, but he made his name on Saturdays. He reestablished his NFL credentials after that San Francisco 49ers stint, not just by winning games, but by winning recruiting battles.
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And according to Colston Loveland, one of Harbaugh’s biggest success stories at Michigan, that recruitment battle once took the head coach all the way to the small town of Gooding, Idaho. It was the time when the future NFL TE was still a high schooler.
Naturally, the visit of a revered college football coach became the talk of the town. “Everyone knew about it… News travels fast,” Loveland said on The Rich Eisen Show. “The fact that he’s coming all the way to Idaho means he obviously saw something in me.”
Harbaugh visited Loveland’s grandparents’ house at the time, where he stayed the night. He arrived late, but instead of hitting the bed, the then-Michigan head coach spent time chopping it up with the tight end prospect.
“He stayed at my grandparents’ place,” Loveland recalled. “He got in late at night… we’re chopping it up. He’s like, ‘Yo, what time are we working out in the morning’? I was like, ‘You working out’? He’s like, ‘Yeah’.”
Afterward, the two hit the school gym the next morning — Harbaugh in his signature khakis — and knocked out a workout session before sunrise. But what left a lasting impression on Loveland was the then-Michigan HC warming up to everyone related to the now-Chicago Bears star, from the locals to the teachers.
“He’s stopping, saying hi to a bunch of my teachers, just kind of being the guy he is,” Loveland said. “It was such a blessing to have him come out to Gooding. Not a lot of people like that come out there.”
And as it turned out, Harbaugh’s belief paid off. Loveland played a key role in Michigan’s 2023 national championship, posting 45 catches, 649 yards, and four touchdowns.
The TE followed that up with 56 catches and five touchdowns in 2024, earning Second-Team All-American honors before being taken 10th overall by the Bears in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Harbaugh, who is now with the LA Chargers, had nothing but praise for his former recruit after the Bears picked him up. “They’re going to love Colston,” he told NBC Sports.
“Colston is going to love Chicago. He’s going to have a much better career than I did in Chicago… Smart pick by the Bears,” added the coach.
For Loveland, it all started with a home visit. But for the fans, that visit turned out to be not just one of the most memorable recruiting stories in recent memory, but a moment that showed how far Harbaugh is willing to go to get his guy.
And judging by the way the Bears were excited at the prospect of having Loveland play for them, it’s clear that Harbaugh’s effort is already paying off. Not bad for a kid from Gooding.
