There’s no question that Michigan and Jim Harbaugh got a relatively light punishment from the NCAA following their sign-stealing scandal that occurred during their 2023 national championship-winning season. Urban Meyer, however, feels that Harbaugh shouldn’t get a similar pass from the NFL.
Meyer, who has been rather vocal regarding his feelings on the Michigan-NCAA situation, recently questioned whether the NFL should punish Harbaugh, who is going into this second season as the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach.
“They’ll be an asterisk there,” Meyer said on his podcast while referring to Michigan’s national championship. “There’s an elephant in the room here, boys, though, that no one’s talking about. When Jim Tressel was fired at Ohio State and he was given a suspension, Roger Goodell, commissioner of National Football League, came out and said that we’re going to honor that suspension.
“And you remember, he went to the Indianapolis Colts to work in the replay room or something. The Colts, because of the respect they had for the NCAA and the suspension, you realize they suspended Jim Tressel so he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year for the Indianapolis Colts. Any chance that Roger Goodell and the NFL [do something similar]? Of course not. And I don’t know why.”
Meyer certainly has a point. If Goodell was going to punish Tressel for infractions that were committed in college, why won’t he do the same now regarding Harbaugh? Especially when you factor in that the sign-stealing scandal that took place at Michigan was a far greater infraction than the one that ultimately cost Tressel his job at Ohio State.
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The NCAA’s punishment of Ohio State had a direct impact on Meyer, who took over the Buckeyes’ football program in the fall of 2011. Because of the infractions that took place prior to Meyer’s arrival, Ohio State lost nine scholarships and were not allowed to play in a bowl or a championship game during Meyer’s first season. Players were also allowed to leave the program without punishment. The Buckeyes still went 12-0 during Meyer’s first season but were not allowed to compete for a Big Ten or a national title.
Meyer, who went 7-0 against Harbaugh-led Michigan teams during his time at Ohio State, insists that his opinion has nothing to do with his previous rivalry with Harbaugh and the Wolverines. For Meyer, it instead comes down to accountability and consistency regarding Harbaugh, the Michigan football program and the NCAA and NFL.
“This is one that will go down in history books,” Meyer said. “This is something in my lifetime, I’ve not seen this. … The NCAA is no longer an enforcement entity. It doesn’t exist.”
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