Collumn: With latest crushing blow, Jim Harbaugh’s legacy on line
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Jim Harbaugh doesn’t lose often and seldom concedes. This time, he didn’t have much of a choice.
Harbaugh’s quest for injunctive relief to halt his three-game suspension ended Thursday, and who knows where the sign-stealing scandal turns next? Michigan’s pursuit of a third straight Big Ten title, another playoff berth and even a national championship will plow ahead without him on the sideline the next two games.
Harbaugh’s instinct to fight, and Michigan’s instinct to defend him, were trumped by the Big Ten’s persistence and evidence. Rather than risk a court battle with no guarantee of victory, UM reached an agreement with the Big Ten, upholding Harbaugh’s three-game suspension and closing the conference’s investigation, but not the NCAA’s.
That means he’ll miss Saturday’s game at Maryland, where the 10-0 Wolverines will seek their 23rd consecutive Big Ten victory, and the program’s NCAA-leading 1,000th overall.
And yes, that means Harbaugh will miss The Game the following Saturday against Ohio State in Ann Arbor, which could pit undefeated behemoths. Of all the punishments the Big Ten or NCAA could levy on Harbaugh, that has to be the most devastating. The nation will tune into the biggest game of the year, the culmination of all Harbaugh has built, and he won’t be there to witness it.
The Big Ten reiterated there’s no evidence Harbaugh knew about the sign-stealing scheme run by former UM analyst Connor Stalions. But it’s his program and his responsibility, and if nothing else, he’s guilty of lax oversight.
It’s an embarrassing crusher, but it doesn’t have to be the end of anything for Harbaugh, who still has plenty to gain. If Michigan wins its next two, he can return for the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis. A 15-0 season and national title are still attainable, and as the Wolverines showed by beating Penn State with acting head coach Sherrone Moore, they’re not easily distracted. In fact, they appear even more determined.
It’s a shame such a dominant run carries a stigma, fair or not, but Harbaugh has no one else to blame. No matter what you think of the muddled sign-stealing rules, or the fact the NCAA investigation isn’t over, this is not an isolated incident. The NCAA has been looking at other alleged violations, including impermissible recruiting visits during a covid-19 restricted period. This investigation reportedly was expedited, and revelations are being given to the Big Ten in real time.
Commissioner Tony Petitti wasn’t interested in waiting for due process when he made his ruling last week, and he isn’t interested now. Does that defy logic? Logically, yes. Legally, maybe not. And at this stage, a court battle only invites more scrutiny, and Michigan has had enough of that as the school’s statement outlined.
“The Conference agreed to close its investigation, and the University and Coach Harbaugh agreed to accept the three-game suspension,” UM’s statement read. “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 scandal already has swallowed all college football conversations nationwide. The optics are awful for UM, but there might be an unspoken benefit to settling it this way. Without Harbaugh on the sideline, enormous pressure shifts to Ryan Day’s Buckeyes, who have lost consecutive games by double-digits to the Wolverines, part of UM’s historic 35-3 run the past three seasons.
The remaining battles will take place on the field, where grievances generally are settled, and that’s good. By most accounts, fans remain wholly supportive, evidenced by their amusing “Free Harbaugh” chants. The grudge match against the Buckeyes will take on unprecedented levels of grudging, and judging, and like it or not, Day and Harbaugh (from a distance) will be vying for vindication.
I suspect this forced outcome will inflict lasting damage on relationships — between UM and the Big Ten, between Harbaugh and the NCAA, between UM and rivals and maybe between Harbaugh and UM. Harbaugh was determined to fight, and as of last weekend, had the full backing of president Santa Ono and athletic director Warde Manuel. There have been negotiations on a new contract for Harbaugh, but it’s unclear where that goes now. As always in multi-pronged investigations, new information surfaces and strategies change.
Counting the three games at the start, Harbaugh will be suspended for six of UM’s 12 regular-season contests, although he can coach the team during the week. UM still supports him, but with limits. A Washtenaw County judge decided last weekend not to rule on Michigan’s request for a temporary restraining order, and another hearing this Friday might have ended the same way. I doubt anyone had the stomach to let it churn for two more weeks.
The spectacle — an enormous national brand and polarizing coach roiling in controversy — is more attention-grabbing than the scandal itself. These are unprecedented allegations, providing unknown benefits. Sign-stealing is legal in college football, which complicates the issue. By next season, if the NCAA does the right thing and allows helmet radios to communicate signs, it won’t even be an issue.
That doesn’t absolve Michigan now, although you could argue it mitigates the seriousness. But if Stalions broke the rule against in-person scouting by sending others to film opposing teams during games, the violation is real, and so is the punishment.
Petitti decided it required swift, strong action, and he had the leverage to threaten it, then impose it. I suppose he felt empowered because other Big Ten programs supported him, no surprise, and they likely demanded it. Again, that method of justice is troubling, and Petitti will have to deal now with every allegation about illicit sign-stealing in a sport that embraces it.
Harbaugh has been unapologetic, which probably doesn’t help. Earlier this week, he called UM “America’s team” for beating odds and overcoming adversity. His Monday news conference was a humorous soliloquy that touched on chicken-raising and the honorable Judge Judy.
Harbaugh has tried to project an air of being unbothered, and I think he mostly does it to reassure his team. Or maybe he simply can’t help it, after years of defying convention and pushing against accepted norms. He hints at it when he talks about his team, which also defies convention and pushes back on norms, like when running the ball 32 consecutive times at Penn State.
“The mission last year was a happy mission,” Harbaugh said Monday. “This year has been even more than the wins. It’s a mission of faith, it’s a mission of speaking truth to power, it’s a mission of playing for each other as a band of brothers. I see our guys, and they’re strong. They’re walking upright and innocent.”
The players bear no blame, and it’s unfortunate they get connected to it. If it galvanizes them all the way to a championship, I’m sure they won’t mind, their resolve symbolized by Blake Corum’s bloody visage after beating Penn State.
Harbaugh is the one who wears the bruise and carries the burden. I don’t know how many more battles he plans to wage, or how much more truth to power he plans to speak, but the next month will cement his legacy, one way or another.