The second shoe has yet to drop in the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan football, but the first has officially touched down. And Jim Harbaugh was caught wearing the smelly boot.
The NCAA Notice of Allegations against the Wolverines recently became public, and while the basics of UM football’s follies have already been reported, the devil in the details has finally emerged. And he wears khaki pants.
Before the NCAA reveals what it plans to do about the Michigan spying scandal involving former employee Connor Stalions, the governing body has had to deal with non-football violations, including impermissible contact during a COVID-19 recruiting dead period. in 2021 and Harbaugh misleading NCAA investigators along the way.
The 11-page NOA was obtained Friday by multiple media outlets through an open records request made shortly after the document was received by the university on Dec. 18, 2023. According to the Freedom of Rights office’s response, Michigan Information, some information has been redacted to prevent an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
What was not written? Harbaugh’s name. No other individual coaches or employees were identified, but the NOA found that Harbaugh engaged in “unethical or dishonest conduct and lack of cooperation” in the 2021 recruiting cases. Clearly, the NCAA wanted it to be known that Harbaugh was complicit in any wrongdoing. . He received a three-game suspension at the start of last season as part of a negotiated settlement between the school and the NCAA, then another three-game suspension from the Big Ten related to impermissible in-person advanced scouting linked to the Stalions.
Harbaugh left Michigan for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers after the Wolverines won the 2023 national championship. That’s called fleeing town before authorities close in. Expect him to be named in personal recognition claims as well.
Other NOA details:
· In the first allegation, involving three recruits and their parents, a potential prospect and his father gained access to the football facilities and met with a coach in the weight room. Another recruit and his father received a discounted meal at an Ann Arbor restaurant and would also get a free meal at another restaurant.
· The second allegation involves an unidentified coach who was “uncooperative and provided misleading or false information,” which is supported by “factual information (that) establishes that he met with prospective football student-athletes and their parents.”
· The third allegation targets Harbaugh, alleging he violated the “NCAA principles of ethical conduct and was uncooperative” during a 2022 interview with investigators regarding impermissible in-person and off-campus recruiting contact.
Other allegations include an employee who participated in on-field training activities and the NCAA’s conclusion that Michigan failed to monitor itself and “compromised the integrity” of the collegiate model.
My lesson? Those who insist that the Stalions investigation ends with UM receiving little more than a slap in the face fail to see that the 2021 recruiting violations will absolutely impact the punishment the NCAA metes out for Cheatgate. Subsequent infractions are compounded based on previous acts of disobedience.
The NCAA no longer wields the hammer it once did, but it still has enough tools to torture a program. Bowl bans, scholarship losses, and recruiting restrictions, especially related to the NIL, still have a punishing impact. Michigan may not need to lose games and give back its national title, but the future feels uncomfortably uncertain, and the Wolverines have Harbaugh to thank for that.
LPGA’s Lydia Ko avoids monster bogeyman
Incredibly impressive golf statistics surprise me because, as someone who plays, I know how difficult it is to avoid lurking hiccups and more than occasional vomiting. But 27-year-old Lydia Ko somehow avoided both better than anyone on the LPGA Tour. For much.
Ko, an almost certain future member of the LPGA Hall of Fame — she needs one more win/qualifying point to join the other 35 inductees — has 131 bogey-free rounds since joining the tour in 2014. How good is that? Golf statistics guru Justin Ray reports that over the past decade, the next few bogey-free rounds belong to Lizette Salas, with 84. It’s hard to imagine Ko compiling more 47 bogey-free rounds than anyone else.
Listening
“Right in the sky, now below, back, there, now here…” – Snoop Dogg, commenting on the Olympic badminton match between the United States and China.
Off topic
Anyone else have a mom who can’t keep her finger from blocking the camera lens during a FaceTime call? Asking a friend.
roller@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football rules violations released by NCAA
