Jim Harbaugh has no interest in reacting to the NCAA’s penalties levied last week after its investigation into sign-stealing at Michigan, which includes a 10-year show-cause for the former Wolverines coach. The Los Angeles Chargers coach said after Saturday night’s preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams he would not comment on the rulings.
“Like I said to you last year, not engaging,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN. “Not engaging.”
The NCAA imposed a significant fine on Michigan, reportedly exceeding $20 million, hit former Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions with an eight-year show-cause penalty and docked coach Sherrone Moore with a two-year order, which will include a three-game suspension.
Harbaugh released a statement in August 2024 denying any involvement in the sign-stealing saga that the NCAA found had occurred under his watch.
“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal,” Harbaugh said, via Daniel Popper of The Athletic. “I was raised with that lesson. I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I’ve coached. No one’s perfect. If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right. Today, I do not apologize.
“I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So for, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, mocked the NCAA’s ruling against his client. In comments to CBS Sports’ John Talty, Mars said, “I don’t know how Jim feels about it, but I know how upset I would be if I got banned from appearing in traffic court.”
Michigan sign-stealing penalties: Jim Harbaugh’s lawyer mocks NCAA in response to 10-year show-cause
Cody Nagel
Mars followed it up with another dig at the NCAA: “That show-cause makes me think Jim must’ve thrown a Subway sandwich at the COI when I wasn’t looking.”
The show-cause order is part of a sweeping set of penalties for the Michigan football program, which the Division I Committee on Infractions said had a “contentious relationship” with its compliance office, leading coaches and staff to act “with disregard for the rules.”
Timeline details Michigan saga
Michigan first received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA this time last year, stemming from its own investigation into Stalions and the Wolverines’ sign-stealing operation. Stalions resigned in November 2023 after the retired United States Marine Corps captain and purported leader of Michigan’s scouting operation was tabbed as the ringleader of the advanced scouting plan after the Big Ten launched an investigation into alleged in-person scouting.
Stalions served as an analyst with the Wolverines for three seasons under Harbaugh. He was suspended with pay on Oct. 20, 2023, one day after the NCAA began its investigation into allegations Michigan was engaged in impermissible scouting of opponents.
According to reports this week from CBS News Detroit, Central Michigan sought assistance from Stalions to help the Chippewas’ coaching staff in the 2023 season opener against Michigan State, this coming a few months prior to his resignation in Ann Arbor.
Central Michigan received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA this summer detailing the nearly two-year-old incident in which a man believed to be Stalions appeared on the Chippewas’ sideline. A man resembling Stalions was seen wearing Central Michigan apparel and sunglasses with a recording device on the Chippewas’ sideline.
Read the full article here