'I'm About To Burn The Grass': Former Player Shares Great Harbaugh Story

Jim Harbaugh has a track record of building winning football teams wherever he's been, and this story from a former 49er helps explain why.

As it turns out, 'culture' is a big deal to Jim Harbaugh. Culture is how Harbaugh transformed the Stanford football program into a national championship contender in 2010. Culture is how Harbaugh turned the San Francisco 49ers from bottom feeders in the NFC West to the top team in their division in 2011. Culture is how Harbaugh has transformed the Michigan Football program from perennial underachievers to back-to-back Big Ten Champions on the verge of making their second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff. 

For Jim Harbaugh, culture is a crucial element in building a champion - as evidenced by this great soundbite from Delanie Walker. As a member of the San Francisco 49ers from 2006-2012, Walker got used to playing for a franchise that was constantly underachieving. According to Walker, that all changed when Harbaugh took over the head coaching position in 2011, and the man now calling the shots in Ann Arbor made it abundantly clear from day one that the culture was about to change.  

Jim Harbaugh showed up in San Francisco and the culture changed over night…

“I’m about to burn the grass because I want to find all the snakes”

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— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) December 14, 2022

"We were in San Francisco partying every night when we were losing. After the game, we'd have a bus waiting for all of us to take us to party. We were terrible because we just partied every night and did what we wanted. It was San Francisco, it was lit, you know what I mean? Then as Jim Harbaugh came in, the first thing he did...he came, he was like, 'I'm about to burn the grass'. We were all like 'damn, what the hell is he talking about?' That was the first meeting, he was like, 'I'm gonna burn the grass because I want to find all the snakes.' And then every day, he was releasing cats.' So it was just like, everybody started to change around with Jim."

After eight-straight seasons of missing the playoffs, Harbaugh had San Francisco in the playoffs in his first year as head coach. The 49ers made it all the way to the NFC championship game, where they narrowly lost to the New York Giants by a score of 20-17. The very next season, the 49ers would claim their first NFC championship since 1994 - leading them to face the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. 

Though his head coaching career has been far from smooth, it's clear that Harbaugh knows how to build a winning football team. Whether it's San Diego, Stanford, San Francisco, or now Michigan - Jim Harbaugh is a proven winner.