When Dan Monson’s 17-year tenure with the Long Beach State squad seemed to end, the coach’s impact was far from over. It was only a matter of six days when Monson made his rebound by leading his basketball team to the NCAA tournament with a 74-70 victory over UC Davis. 

After this victory, it was time for Monson to engage in a verbal contest with football coaching maestro Jim Harbaugh. In response to former Michigan coach Harbaugh’s famous catchphrase, “Who has it better than us?” Monson has his answers ready. 

Monson’s direct dare for Harbaugh

Five days before the championship game, the basketball HC was relieved of his duties. However, the situation changed as the Long Beach State squad opted to retain Monson for the remainder of the season. Previously, the coach served for Gonzaga and Minnesota; he propelled his team from being the worst 3-point team to achieving success. But what turned heads was that Monson threw a direct challenge on the former Michigan Wolverines HC immediately after the game.

After the roller-coaster season that Beach State went through after beating DePaul and losing to San Diego State, they also beat Michigan three days later. With this, he also throws a brutal jab at the former Michigan coach, “When Jim Harbaugh says ‘Who’s got it better than him?’ Somebody needs to tell him Dan Monson.” Served as the wake-up call for Jim Harbaugh’s squad, an interesting story runs behind the slogan. 

Carrying forward the Harbaugh legacy

While growing up, for Jim Harbaugh and his brother, John, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, the influence of their father, Jack Harbaugh, reigned supreme. Jack, the former coach of Western Michigan University, fostered a competitive spirit within his sons from a young age. Jim Harbaugh vividly recalls a memory from his childhood, “I remember it was Iowa City, Iowa. I’m like first grade John’ third we didn’t have a car and we had a dealer car for some reason that car wasn’t there dad was taking us to school and we walk out and “We’re like “Where’s the car Dad?”, he goes, “No car today boys. We’re walking grab a basketball let’s get a 100 with the right, 100 with the left.” 

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Harbaugh’s father ensured that every speech would end with the mandatory rallying cry, “Who’s got it better than us?” that elicited a resounding response from the brothers, “NOBODY, Dad! NOBODY!” This motivated the coaches to carry forward with their winning mentality, no matter how challenging the situation. 

Running high in motivation, Jim and Jack Harbaugh carried on this legacy whenever they hit the ground. Now that Jim Harbaugh has a new competitor, basketball and football fans are awaiting his comeback against Monson.  

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