I know we’re all getting tired of the Michigan Wolverines cheating scandal, but what do you want from me? I have to write about this ridiculousness. Here are my latest thoughts…
— Hey, Jim Harbaugh, your team isn’t America’s Team. That’s a moniker given to the Dallas Cowboys and it was for a reason. The Cowboys were a team that most either absolutely loved or hated because of their national popularity and the draw they had on TV. Most people hate Michigan, and their fans are diehard, but this situation is quite different. People hate Michigan because Harbaugh and his coaches “allegedly” cheated to become a national threat. When naming a college football “America’s Team,” it can’t be because a team is hated because of cheating. That won’t fly.
— This entire process seems so flawed, but we will get down to the bottom of it eventually. I am told this — the NCAA has enough on Michigan to do some serious damage, and the decision by Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti was partly because of what he’s seen. There is mounting evidence but the NCAA will move slowly as usual. But I’m told they will move quicker than normal, which means something by the spring.
— The suspension of Harbaugh is a joke. It came down cowardly while the team was in transit to Penn State and suspending “the Michigan coach” only during games doesn’t do a thing. If they wanted to slam Harbaugh and Michigan for their defiance, they should have handed it down Thursday during the day for the prime-time news sweep into the weekend, and it should have been for all football-related activities. I’m surprised Petitti actually had the balls to do anything with the fear of lawsuits, but he was backed into a corner by Michigan’s bravado and threats.
— Both Petitti and Santa Ono will be out of their current positions as Big Ten Commissioner and Michigan President, respectively, by next season. This is quickly going to get very ugly, and it will show that Petitti overstepped too early but also that Michigan was wrong to back Harbaugh. Meanwhile, Harbaugh will be in the NFL by the spring.
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— Nearly every coach I’ve spoken to believes Harbaugh knew and cheated — to a man. The only coach I spoke to who played Michigan in the last three seasons who didn’t think he had some inkling of their signals told me they were so overmatched that Michigan wouldn’t have bothered to try to figure them out. Everyone else ranges from suspicious to absolutely convinced this was an operation Harbaugh knew about and gained a massive advantage from.
— Recruiting will take a dip for Michigan for two reasons. First, most think Harbaugh is gone and will be off to the NFL, and that’s being used as a negative recruiting tool. However, that’s nothing new, as it’s been used against him since he arrived at Michigan. The second bit of negative recruiting is downright nefarious. Recruits have told me that some schools are telling them that going and playing for Michigan will hurt their NFL status. They are being told the program is tainted to NFL scouts and GMs because of the cheating scandal because of the advantage of “knowing signs” and that players are being and will be discounted in their NFL Draft evals as a result. Honestly, it’s absolute garbage and won’t work, and I’m surprised it’s been used, and it’s arguably the least effective negative recruiting tactic I’ve heard in all my years. But if it impacts one or two players, it will hurt nonetheless.
— Anyone who still believes ConnornStalions was rogue and worked alone is clearly a blinded super fan of the Wolverines. This entire coaching staff is in jeopardy because of this, and there is internal worry. Many are honestly somewhat innocent in all of this, I’ve been told, and this is not a carefully orchestrated master plan by Harbaugh. But the excuse that Stalions worked alone won’t fly in the end, and everyone will pay a price. Harbaugh will always have his backers forever as some still think Joe Paterno didn’t know what was happening at Penn State with Jerry Sandusky, as we’ve seen, but in the end, this will be similar to the Penn State punishment — harsh at first and lessened over time.
