By Scott Salomon
University of Michigan Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh and the school have elected to forego an injunction hearing today in state Circuit Court and opted to give in and accept the Big Ten’s three-game suspension of Harbaugh that started last week against Penn State.
The school and the coach were screaming that there was a lack of “due process” involved with the Big Ten’s suspension prior to any findings of fact by the NCAA or a court of competent jurisdiction. Now, they crawl away from the Courthouse steps with their tails between their legs and appear to be as corrupt as the public perceives. Perception might always be greater than reality, but in this case, that old axiom burns bright.
Harbaugh, by electing to accept the penalty, tacitly admits that the allegations stemming from the Connor Stalions matter involving in-person scouting and the use of a technological device to record sideline signals from other Big Ten opponents and possible playoff teams are true. Essentially, if Harbaugh was not involved with the Stalions matter or there was no guilt, why accept the penalty and impliedly plead to the charges and not roll the dice and take your chances in a Court of Law?
Innocent people only plead to the charges when they feel some modicum of guilt can be proven and that the penalties to be imposed could be much harsher. Harbaugh and Michigan are not totally out of the woods yet and caved too soon.
Holy Bo Schembechler! The man that was brought in to restore a Michigan program to its glory days under Schembechler and was the ultimate Michigan Man, now has a stain and a blemish on his name. Meanwhile, Schembechler, Harbaugh’s college coach at U-M must be rolling over in his grave.
Schembechler was a fighter and never would have relented to the Big Ten’s charges without a dogfight. Schembechler embodied everything that the definition of the ultimate Michigan Man represented. Harbaugh can’t even carry Schembechler’s briefcase in that regard.
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Harbaugh will miss the final two games. Michigan’s next game is Saturday against at Maryland before the Maize and Blue have their epic battle with conference rival Ohio State.
Michigan does not have the greatest record against Ohio State even with Harbaugh and will now go into the big showdown with offensive line coach Sherrone Moore serving as interim head coach. The following Tweet from an Ohio State fan sums up the Wolverines’ luck against the Buckeyes in the Harbaugh years.
https://twitter.com/MCUDrew122/status/1725331133754130897
The University of Michigan and Harbaugh elected to accept the penalty on the eve of the temporary restraining order hearing that would have sought to prevent the Big Ten from enforcing the suspension that came down last Friday. It is important to note that this would have been the first step of the complex litigation that would have only sought to have Harbaugh be on the sidelines for the final two games.
Had this hearing taken place, it would not have resolved the matter with the Big Ten in its entirety. It only would have decided the issues on the suspension and the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order.
Michigan released the following statement in support of its decision, while still standing behind its coach.
“This morning, the University, Coach Harbaugh, and the Big Ten resolved their pending litigation. The Conference agreed to close its investigation, and the University and Coach Harbaugh agreed to accept the three-game suspension. Coach Harbaugh, with the University’s support, decided to accept this sanction to return the focus to our student-athletes and their performance on the field. The Conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations. The University continues to cooperate fully with the NCAA’s investigation.”
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1723088070197510465
The Big Ten, meanwhile, in its statement on the matter, never stated that it agreed to close its investigation. In fact, on Thursday they said they will continue to strive to learn all of the facts as it partners with the NCAA on its investigation. The full statement is below:
“The Big Ten Conference’s commitment to student-athletes, sportsmanship and the Commissioner’s duty to protect the integrity of competition will never waver. Today’s decision by the University of Michigan to withdraw its legal challenge against the Conference’s November 10th Notice of Disciplinary Action is indicative of the high standards and values that the Conference and the University seek to uphold. The University of Michigan is a valued member of the Big Ten Conference and the Conference will continue to work cooperatively with the University and the NCAA during this process.”
https://twitter.com/bigten/status/1725248522767757508
This is the second suspension this season for Harbaugh who will have missed a total of six of Michigan’s regular season games due to a prior punishment for violation of NCAA rules. One would think that a coach that was suspended for alleged rule breaking twice in the same season would be terminated, but Harbaugh is going nowhere. In fact, I would not be surprised to see the school announce that it has reached a contract extension with Harbaugh in the next few weeks.
The acquiescence of Michigan and Harbaugh to accept the penalty really does nothing for the University except show good faith to the Big Ten and the NCAA that they are complying with the investigation and accepted the penalty with the hopes that the NCAA does not issue harsher penalties against the coach and the school when it ultimately concludes its investigation.
The end of the litigation also validates the actions taken by the conference and, in particular, its Commissioner Tony Petitti.
Michigan is taking the high road to potentially eliminate those possibilities by accepting and not challenging the three-game Harbaugh suspension, but there is no guarantee that the Big Ten or the NCAA will take further action and impose greater sanctions.
Penalties to be imposed, by the NCAA, if they find that violations occurred, could include the vacating of wins by the University over the three-year period in question and could have potentially impacted the Wolverines’ bowl eligibility and their ability to take part in the College Football Playoff should they qualify. The University could also face a scholarship reduction as the jury is still out on the charges levied by the Big Ten. This did not resolve the issues pertaining to future punishment by either the Big Ten or the NCAA.
Should Michigan win the Big Ten title and go on to the playoffs and win a national title, both of the championships could be vacated by the NCAA should they believe that the situation warrants same and that the violations occurred and that the University failed to exercise institutional control.
This will certainly stain Michigan’s potential undefeated season, either way, and whether the penalties are levied or not, it creates a cloud that will hang over the University and Harbaugh for many years to come.
