Jim Harbaugh won’t be much of a game-day figure for the rest of the regular season.
The Big Ten announced Friday it was suspending the Michigan coach from the sidelines for the remainder of the 2023 regular season after finding the program conducted “an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”
Harbaugh, en route to the Wolverines’ game at Penn State at the time of the announcement, will still be allowed to coach practices and run team activities.
“Today’s action by Commissioner Tony Petitti disregards the Conference’s own handbook, violates basic tenets of due process, and sets an untenable precedent of assessing penalties before an investigation has been completed,” Michigan said in a statement Friday.
“We are dismayed at the Commissioner’s rush to judgment when there is an ongoing NCAA investigation – one in which we are fully cooperating.”
The statement slammed the conference for announcing the punishment on Veteran’s Day, when courts are closed, in attempt “to try to thwart the University from seeking immediate judicial relief is hardly a profile in impartiality”, and said it would nonetheless be seeking a court order to halt the suspension.
Michigan has been under investigation for alleged sign-stealing in a scheme masterminded by now ex-staffer Connor Stalions, in which he attended games of upcoming Wolverines opponents and recorded hand signals.
Stalions, a former Marine, resigned from Michigan last week.
“I love the University of Michigan and its football program.” Stalions said in a statement to The Athletic.
“And I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to work with the incredible student athletes, coach Harbaugh and the other coaches that have been a part of the Michigan football family during my tenure.
“I do not want to be a distraction from what I hope to be a championship run for the team, and I will continue to cheer them on.”
In addition to the Penn State game this weekend, the Harbaugh suspension covers Michigan’s games against Maryland and heated rival Ohio State.
The Big Ten charged Michigan with violating its Sportsmanship Policy, which states, “The Big Ten Conference expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of the competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials.”
It is expected Harbaugh and Michigan will pursue legal avenues to combat the punishment.
In a statement last month, Harbaugh denied knowledge of the sign-stealing scheme, saying, in part, that he had not “directed any staff member or others to participate in an off-campus scouting assignment.”
“I have no awareness of anyone on our staff having done that or having directed that action,” Harbaugh continued.
The Big Ten is not claiming that it has evidence that Harbaugh was involved in directing the alleged sign-stealing operation.
“We impose this disciplinary action even though the Conference has not yet received any information indicating that Head Football Coach Harbaugh was aware of the impermissible nature of the sign-stealing schme,” the conference said.
“This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh. It is a sanction against the University that, under the extraordinary circumstances presented by this offensive conduct, best fits the violation because: (1) it preserves the ability of the University’s football student-athletes to continue competing; and (2) it recognizes that the Head Coach embodies the University for purposes of its football program.”
In a letter earlier this week, Michigan effectively warned the conference not to punish the program, citing insufficient evidence and saying that any punishment would be disproportionate given allegations that other Big Ten football teams have stolen signs.
“The conference should act cautiously when setting precedent given the reality that in-person scouting, collusion among opponents, and other questionable practices may well be far more prevalent than believed,” Michigan’s letter said, in part.
Sign-stealing is not technically illegal in college football, but in-person advanced scouting has been banned since 1994.
Amid the investigation, Michigan has claimed that it was hardly alone in sign-stealing endeavors.
An ESPN report said that Michigan sent documents to the Big Ten indicating that Ohio State and Rutgers had shared the Wolverines’ signs with Purdue during the 2022 season.
In a halftime interview when Rutgers played Michigan on Sept. 23, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano seemed to imply that he suspected something treacherous was afoot with the Wolverines.
“There’s some stuff going on out there, so we got to slow it down a little bit,” Schiano said at the time. “There’s some things going on that aren’t right as well, so we’ll talk about how to handle it.”
As of this posting, Michigan has +280 odds to win the college football national championship, trailing only Georgia, which is at +240.
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