Who's Got It Better? Harbaugh More Popular Than Saban Among Male Millennials

Univ. of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh's ways "seem to be working with his target audience," as data from Q Scores shows that he is "much more popular" than Alabama coach Nick Saban among millennial males, according to Larry Lage of the AP. Harbaugh has "starred in a rap video, traveled the country for youth camps, taken his team to Florida for spring break, traded barbs on Twitter and even had sleepovers with recruits." Harbaugh is "on the verge of having his celebrity transcend the sports world with those same young men between the ages of 18 and 34." Q Scores Exec VP Henry Schafer said, "Harbaugh is making a significantly stronger impact than Saban among younger males and that seems to be his objective." Lage noted nearly three-fourths of male sports fans between 18-34 "are aware of Harbaugh." Harbaugh's Q Score "is 25 among that group, meaning one out of four millennial males said he was a favorite of theirs in a survey done earlier this year." Saban is someone 68% of millennial males surveyed "are familiar with and his Q score is 21 among them." Q Scores "conducted its survey in February" (AP 8/5).

PICTURE PERFECT: In Detroit, Angelique Chengelis noted Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer David Turnley for most of last year "was behind the scenes" with Harbaugh and his football team, documenting his first season. Harbaugh gave him "complete access to the program," and he "shot 70,000 images." Harbaugh and Turnley "have co-authored 'Enthusiasm Unknown to Mankind,' a coffee-table book that features more than 300 black-and-white photographs and also Harbaugh’s work as a writer." The fanatic edition of the book costs $75 and will be available at UM's official retailer, the M Den, "at the end of the month." Harbaugh's portion of the book as co-author "will be used to help pay for a new weight room" (DETROIT NEWS, 8/7).

APPEARANCE FEE: In Michigan, David Mayo writes under the header, "Jim Harbaugh's Limits On U-M Preseason Media Hurts Only Consumers." Harbaugh and his team yesterday "popped out of their rabbit hole for media day." But the event was a "limited exercise in which everyone gets a few minutes to practice stiff-arms before the real practices begin." Yesterday was the last day fans and media could see the UM football team "for a period of time yet to be determined." All of this "would be somewhat less significant if not for occurring at one of the highest-profile programs in the nation" (MLIVE.com, 8/8).