By Ed Smith @edsmith7133
In response to the ongoing sign-stealing scandal that has surrounded the Michigan program since October 19, the Big 10 handed down a three-game suspension to the University of Michigan on Friday, including a prohibition on Jim Harbaugh coaching the remainder of the regular season. The games that are expected to be affected by this ruling are against Penn State, Maryland, and Ohio State (a matchup informally known as “The Game”).
Timeline for Harbaugh Suspension
The timeline for what the public has been made aware of is as follows:
- October 19 – The NCAA announces its investigation into the Michigan program for possible competitive balance sign-stealing allegations. In the report, a Michigan employee by the name of Conner Stallions was named as a party who would advance scout opponents and decipher signs that were used for those teams in the process of play.
- October 20 – Michigan suspends Conner Stallions.
- November 6 – The Big 10 sends notice of potential discipline to the University of Michigan based on findings that it has received.
- November 10 – Notice was received that Michigan was being punished for the findings of the sign stealing scandal before the completion of the investigation that is being held by the Big 10. That punishment is that the Head Coach of the football program, Jim Harbaugh, will not be allowed to participate in the duties of coaching during the final three weeks of the season.
The allegations that Big 10 Commissioner Tony Petitti’s office cite as leading to this suspension fall under violations of the Sportsmanship Policy as outlined in the conference handbook. This marks the first time this rule would be cited in a case of “unfair advantage” (though there is precedence for taking advantage of the rule’s vague language). The rule was initially created to curb physical altercations and actions beyond that associated with games being played. It was most notably invoked in the Michigan State/Michigan altercation that occurred in the tunnel of Michigan stadium last year before the incident was moved beyond the Big 10’s purview when charges were brought against seven Michigan State players.
Following Friday’s decision, the University of Michigan quickly responded with a statement of its own, which began, “Like all members of the Big 10 Conference, we are entitled to a fair, deliberate and thoughtful process to determine the full set of facts before a judgment is rendered.” The statement went on to talk about disregarding the handbook of the Big 10 conference in suspending an employee of a university before the completion of any type of investigation or fact find that would warrant such a penalty. Furthermore, Michigan has stated that it will seek injunctive relief from this ruling before the scheduled matchup with Penn State on Saturday. However, because the court is on a Veteran’s Day holiday closing, gaining such an injunction has proven trickier than initially expected.
Officials from the NCAA have completed a large portion of an investigation, the findings of which made their way to Commissioner Petitti’s desk. After a call with other Big 10 coaches last week, Petitti determined there was enough evidence from the documents provided to him that a suspension was warranted. It has been widely reported that this investigation done by the NCAA was leaked and has since been left to the court of public opinion.
Commissioner Petitti stated in a letter to the University that immediate action was necessary because of “the extraordinary nature of the offending conduct.” He further stated that this was “an organized, extensive, years-long in-person advanced scouting scheme that was impermissible.” However, while the conference is looking out for the integrity of competition, it has inadvertently removed a very important piece of the competition by removing a coach who is seeking his first National Championship from the most difficult stretch of football his team will see this year. Up to now, Michigan has been on pace to go undefeated in the regular season and play in the College Football Playoff, which would allow Harbaugh the opportunity to compete for a Championship that has eluded him throughout his tenure at Michigan.
It should be noted that Coach Harbaugh has had previous dealings with the NCAA over a controversy referred to as “Burgergate” by the very media that is being charged with reporting this story. In that instance, Harbaugh took a self-imposed three-game suspension at the start of this season as a means of resolving that investigation. The punishment was self-imposed as there was no official declaration of wrongdoing submitted to the Athletic Director at Michigan by the NCAA over those allegations. If such a submission had occurred, the department would have had 90 days to respond to the document. As it stands, Michigan still has not received any formal allegations from the NCAA in regard to Burgergate, the current sign-stealing case, or anything else. Even if the NCAA were to submit such allegations at this point, the time it would take to process the complaint would likely be too long to get Harbaugh back in the game before the Championship.
Reactions to Harbaugh Suspension
Many reactions have been voiced on this topic, but they tend to fall into three categories:
- This is a witch hunt of the highest order, as the NCAA is upset that Harbaugh has skirted rules while at Michigan because they were vague enough for him to take advantage of.
- Jim Harbaugh should not be allowed to coach at the collegiate level going forward since he clearly cannot stay within the rules set forth in the code of conduct, which has been agreed upon across all of college athletics.
- Harbaugh’s staff is being punished for a practice that happens at EVERY university, the only difference being how far the Michigan program took it. Let the players play with the information that they have and have all operations of this process be shut down and move on with the games.
For now, the Michigan Wolverines will face the Penn State Nittany Lions, with or without Jim Harbaugh, on Saturday for their 37th meeting. Come back for more analysis with our team at Total Sports.