“I’ve got 20. Got my 20th at a Giants game a year or two ago”.

It was something. It ended with Cowherd cutting off Harbaugh after a painfully awkward interview that lasted about seven minutes.

University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh still has a decent arm.

Cowherd says the conversation Wednesday with Harbaugh was his “clunkiest interview ever”, Jim Russ of The Detroit News reports.

The ESPN daytime host was noticeably excited about having Harbaugh on his show, opening up with, “I think I’ve only met Jim Harbaugh once or twice”.

Harbaugh is a no-nonsense coach, renowned for terse, nearly combative interviews. The interview started off simply enough with Cowherd asking a few softball questions.

After finally putting an end to the brutal interview, Cowherd fired a shot at Michigan.

CC: Yeah, that’s what it feels like to me. And I love you, I’m a huge Harbaugh fan!

JH: Um, yeah, I don’t know how that much different.

He even recalled Brown and Lou Whitaker coming to the Harbaughs’ Ann Arbor house on motorcycles and the local kids arriving for an autograph.

You know, if the coach had answered any of Cowherd’s questions like that, with a little personality, maybe we wouldn’t have had this situation to begin with. Right before cutting Harbaugh off he says “This seems terribly hard”. To be good, you work very hard at it, you will yourself to be good, you compete like a maniac. I respect that he doesn’t kiss up to national reporters and radio-shows and ESPN. Listen, I love you, it’s not working.

Harbaugh took half-responsibility for the interview on Twitter, followed by Cowherd’s response.

UPDATE: Harbaugh heard about that “clunker” remark by Cowherd and responded.