Rapper Nicki Minaj has been at the center of hip-hop’s highest-profile beef between Toronto rapper Drake, and Philadelphia artist Meek Mill, with whom Minaj is in a relationship. On July 31, Minaj’s Pinkprint Tour hit Michigan and Minaj felt compelled to shout out the state on Twitter.

That second tweet caught the attention of Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh a few days later, and he responded to it, perhaps gaining him some credibility with the young players he’s about to coach for the first time.

Harbaugh has gained a reputation as a very intense, no-nonsense leading man; that was a major reason that his relationship with the front office of the San Francisco 49ers, as well as some players, soured despite a stretch of winning seasons that was preceded by one of the worst periods in franchise history.

Even in his first few months as coach of the Wolverines he has already shocked the team with four-hour practices. "At first, it started as a rumor: We've got four-hour practices? Yeah, right, whatever," linebacker James Ross III said.

"I didn't believe it. That never happened (before). The first practice it came to be true. He blew the whistle and we thought it was over, and we had whole new sets of periods. I'm like, oh, this is serious. We got used to it and it made us a lot tougher."

But hey, maybe he’ll seem cooler and have more respect by being wise enough to big up Minaj, the queen of rap.