Phil Hellmuth Gets Michigan Football Coach To Use Poker Analogies At Press Conferences

According to an article by ESPN, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and poker legend Phil Hellmuth have developed a close friendship over the years, even leading to Harbaugh referencing poker in press conferences.

Harbaugh, who first learned poker at the height of the game’s boom while coaching at Stanford, struck up a friendship with Hellmuth after meeting courtside at a Stanford basketball game. Both men have connections to Palo Alto, California.

The 14-time bracelet winner eventually became a regular visitor to Harbaugh’s locker rooms in Palo Alto and San Francisco. The friendship eventually became close enough to where Hellmuth was giving Harbaugh poker advice as the two sat next to each other on a plane flight.

Part of Hellmuth’s coaching involved getting the football coach accustomed to poker jargon.

From the report:

During a 9-2 start to his first year with the 49ers, Hellmuth told Harbaugh to keep his focus on the future with a poker analogy. Later that week, Harbaugh told reporters that San Francisco “may be ahead in the chip count, but we don’t have a seat at the final table.” “He [freaking] loved it,” Hellmuth said. “The next week there were all these poker analogies in his press conference. I said, ‘This is awesome.’”

Hellmuth and Harbaugh reportedly still keep in touch via text message, but it seems unlikely that they will be communicating this week as Harbaugh steams over a tough loss to Ohio State on Saturday. At $9 million per year, Harbaugh is the highest-paid college football coach.

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