Michigan's Jim Harbaugh heralds the impact of the “National Champion” effect.

HOUSTON — For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, a win over Washington in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday will be an “overwhelming” experience because of the number of people it will impact.

“It will mean a lot to our players, for them to know what it means to be champions,” Harbaugh said. “They are simply referred to as national heroes.

“And for their parents to have a hero son, a national hero, and for their grandparents to have a grandson, and for their brothers and sisters to have a brother who is [national champion]”.

Harbaugh downplayed the idea that he cares about how a win will impact his legacy, but he acknowledged that he cares deeply about how his family will be able to enjoy the Wolverines' title.

“What would it mean for me for my children to know that their father is a national hero, and for my father, my brother and my sister,” Harbaugh said. “That's the overwhelming thing, is that so many people will be able to enjoy this, be a part of it.

“For my wife and her husband to become a national champion. For me, not so much, but for everyone, yes, that would be big,” he added.

Harbaugh, in his ninth season as Michigan State's coach, was previously named the NFL Coach of the Year and AP College Football Coach of the Year. But he has yet to coach a team beyond a conference or division title at four major coaching stops (FCS San Diego, Stanford, San Francisco 49ers and Michigan).

Harbaugh and Washington coach Kalen DeBoer took turns during the coaches' news conference Sunday, exchanging compliments about each other's programs in what became an exercise in civility.

When asked what his message would be to his players if he were leaving for an NFL job, Harbaugh didn't care about the premise, instead choosing to speak to the message entering the game.

“I can't wait to watch them compete and watch them do it,” he said. “That would be my overwhelming feeling, let's go and let it rip.”

Without missing a beat, he jumped into a quick recap of Washington, calling the teams “mirror images” of each other in terms of how accurate they are.

“I really feel like those are the two best teams,” Harbaugh said. “They're the last two standing.”

While questions remain about Harbaugh's future with Michigan, DeBoer's tenure in Washington is still in its early days. After inheriting a team that went 4-8 in 2021, DeBoer went 25-2 in his two seasons with the Huskies.

“I think the team, with every win, gets celebrated on some level, because I make sure they do because it's really hard to win a college football game,” De Boer said. “But it was that kind of really balanced mentality of knowing the work's not done — the job's not done — and we're going to celebrate the win. But the next game is the most important.”