Litigation Dropped, Michigan Suspends Harbaugh
It isn't justice, but the justice system, at least for the moment, is out of the process. Michigan agreed to suspend Harbaugh for three game days, which means he will not be on the sideline against Ohio State.
A Statement from the University of Michigan
"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."
The Big Ten also issued a statement:
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.
There are a lot of questions unanswered: Did Michigan roll over, learn more, or get something in return? Did the Big 10 threaten something else and what? How will this affect the NCAA investigation? How does this affect Harbaugh's contract negotiation? Most of all, will the conference continue to gin up penny-ante violations then gang up on Michigan every time the football team is good, and what does this mean for the conference's future and Michigan's commitment to it? How much will Harbaugh's absence affect them in what was already the most important football game ever?
There is no content after the jump because I have no answers.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:10 PM ^
Who cares? If there's one thing I've learned, over and over and over, it's that the world doesn't deserve the truth when all they see are headlines and then render a judgment based on that. The only thing that matters is winning on the field, as has always been the case.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:26 PM ^
That's my take as well. He either doesn't want the team distracted or is trying to save someone on his staff. Acting like the leader that he is. He may be playing some 4D chess as well knowing that his absence will increase the pressure on 3rd Base to win because imagine how bad it will be for him when he doesn't.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:28 PM ^
Lol so get everybody pumped up at the press conference as us against the world , we’re Americas team come after us we won’t back down , I wanna be heard in court …. Nah never mind I’ll sit out three games ! Really ???
November 16th, 2023 at 4:37 PM ^
Who knows? Maybe there is more dirt that directly implicated someone else on the staff? Maybe they're having a bad week of practice and the players appear distracted? Maybe the lawyers said their chances in court aren't that great?
November 16th, 2023 at 5:23 PM ^
I don’t think Jim would try to save someone on his staff if they knowingly broke the rules, and if he was I am not sure how this action accomplishes that. The NCAA has not closed their investigation.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:46 PM ^
Yeah, i think Harbaugh decided it's not worth it to spend all day friday in court to then coach on Saturday unprepared. Even if the suspension was lifted, Sherrone Moore would still be the best person to coach the game since he's the one who was actually with the team on Friday.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:39 PM ^
Harbaugh's been coaching the team during the week. The suspension only applies to the games themselves.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:24 PM ^
I wish he could come out and say that someone has to care about the kids involved, and since neither the NCAA nor the B1G nor the other conference members seem to give a damn about the kids who actually play the games, he will take the heat for them.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:32 PM ^
All I can say is, when we beat Ohio State, I hope this facacta suspension doesn't keep him from celebrating with the team right after the game.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:19 PM ^
This is all I've got at this point.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:20 PM ^
(I am not advocating for actual violence. Other than sportsmanlike tackles and blocking.)
November 16th, 2023 at 4:50 PM ^
I choose violence.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:21 PM ^
There is only one way I can take this, and it’s that Michigan knows (at least now) that it goes deeper than Stalions. Now I worry about how deep and how wide.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:27 PM ^
Uh, no, it just means that for whatever reason they want to stay in conference and that they feared the possibility of some attempt at a postseason penalty. Seems they don’t want anything affecting the student athletes and Harbaugh has said as much.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:27 PM ^
"It" referring to a violation that previously got a Baylor coach a half-game suspension (and no suspension at all in the WakeyLeaks affair).
November 16th, 2023 at 5:38 PM ^
You are getting neg blasted by the same ignorant, head-in-the-sand fucks that were 100% sure this was message board bullshit, 100% sure there would be no investigation, 100% sure there would be no suspension, 100% sure the suspension would get overturned in court, etc etc.
It's just crazy how people refuse to even entertain the possibility that Michigan was presented with allegations they didn't want to fight publicly in court. There aren't a whole lot of other plausible explanations for why Michigan suddenly wanted to drop everything. The B1G fired the only bullet they had, they couldn't force vacated wins, they couldn't influence the CFP. There was really no reason for Michigan to drop this unless they thought they couldn't win it.
November 16th, 2023 at 6:07 PM ^
I guess this makes me a head-in-the-sand fuck, but why gear up to fight it and then bail (with no clear upside) at the 11th hour? That’s why people are confused.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:21 PM ^
So Michigan is going to do its best to whine OSU out of its coach before next year's Game, right?
November 16th, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
This is all so stoopid. Before the suspension was announced, I was hoping it would all blow over because all I really want is to enjoy watching kids play football.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:25 PM ^
I used to enjoy the back-and-forth between Buckeye and Wolverine fans. Now it's as fun as a presidential election, which is to say that it's not fun in the least.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:31 PM ^
You are the only reasonable Buckeye on this entire planet, Chuck. After seeing all the bucks on Twitter I wonder if you even are one.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:04 PM ^
I would say that game is for Ryan Day's job. I don't know if he could come back after losing the game to an interim coach.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:13 PM ^
Coaching against an interim coach is his best shot at winning. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I think this was the goal and since Ohio State wields a lot of power in the conference, the conference bent his way.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:39 PM ^
Chuck we appreciate you and that one Penn State guy isn't too bad either.
The rest of your fanbase is cancer.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:34 PM ^
This is an insult to cancer
November 16th, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
I just don't get this whole situation.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
Cowards.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
The Conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations.
The coach who is proclaimed innocent gets a three game suspension... makes sense.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:01 PM ^
Thats the most infuriating part of this. So we 'settle' in a way where the Big Ten still suspends Jim for 3 games for no reason and Michigan is supposed to be happy that the Big Ten doesn't make it a 4th game. Glad to see we're such a valued member here...
November 16th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
Fuck the B1G.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
I have trouble seeing how this makes sense unless the NCAA has agreed to wrap up their investigation and treat this as time served.
EDIT: "making sense" doesn't mean justified. The lack of due process in this whole matter is sickening.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:49 PM ^
What's the sense in him coaching on Saturday if he spends all day in court on Friday? Probably what happened is he realized today he cant be prepared for tomorrow's court date without sacrificing much needed work he has to do as a leader of the coaching staff.
I think this is mostly about Harbaugh budgeting his time the best way he can to help the team win.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:51 PM ^
If you can’t see the point of him wasting a day in court and missing the Maryland game for a chance to coach against OSU, then I can’t help you.
November 16th, 2023 at 6:39 PM ^
Harbaugh isn’t staying up late writing legal briefs and practicing oral arguments.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
Feel like an L
November 16th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
There is a strange dissonance between the B1G statement and the Michigan statement regarding whether there was a settlement. B1G’s language is strikingly confrontational.
FYI the headline isn’t accurate. Michigan hasn’t suspended Harbaugh. The B1G has, and Michigan has agreed to stop suing about it. A meaningful difference.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:32 PM ^
Agreed. It sounds an awful lot like a statement from one of your governments, CF. It basically says we’ve successfully brought Michigan to heel. U-M gave up their futile resistance to the might and righteousness of our great regime so we will henceforth consider them good subjects who may return to doing our bidding.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:50 PM ^
Which means it’s time for Michigan to end its socialist redistribution of the Wolverines’ TV revenue to other B1G schools.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:55 PM ^
Capitalism. This is America dammit. America's team for that matter.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:14 PM ^
If only we could do that; my guess is a contract prevents that. That's a big part of the problem -- contracts are binding.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:32 PM ^
All contracts are made to be broken.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
We have to stop signing such shitty ones that don't guarantee our rights from bein stomped.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:35 PM ^
Yup. They could at least throw Michigan a bone in there. Maybe make it clear we aren’t “endangering player safety” at least.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:58 PM ^
To actually get in front of this, Harbaugh needs to get in front of a microphone and tell everyone that he's accepting the suspension to do exactly what he said he'd do: protect his players and this program. He'll fall on the sword, even if he doesn't deserve to, because he trusts his coaches and players and knows they can win without him on the sidelines.
He needs to say those words. That's how you spin this to re-unite the fanbase and University. We're all splintering again, as we are wont to do.
November 16th, 2023 at 5:12 PM ^
he's probably under a gag order as part of the settlement.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
Did we get anything out of this settlement?
November 17th, 2023 at 7:59 AM ^
This. So could the FOIA help reveal the discussions behind the settlement or the reasoning for it? Otherwise, if Harbaugh never addresses the motivation for settling, how could we ever find out HIS thinking. As an invested customer of all things UofM, I feel like I am at least due a logical explanation. I love him but his press conferences are painfully vague. I seem to learn more about nervous birds than the issues at hand.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^
This is SCORCHED EARTH???? What a bunch of fucking bullshit!
Will the NCAA come over the top and suspend for more games?
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