On Wednesday, the NCAA issued a “show cause” order as to former Michigan coach (and current Chargers coach) Jim Harbaugh. On Friday, Michigan says, essentially, “We’ve got your ‘show cause’ right here.”
Via Aaron McMann of MLive.com, Michigan will bring Harbaugh back on August 31 to serve as honorary captain for its home opener.
“I look forward to having him back in Ann Arbor,” Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel said this week.
The NCAA’s four-year sanction against Harbaugh arises from an allegation that he violated the COVID dead period recruiting rules, and that he wasn’t truthful in denying his role in the violations. Harbaugh and others (including current Michigan coach Sherrone Moore) reportedly face separate discipline over the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scheme.
The plan to return to campus as a conquering hero becomes the latest middle finger by Harbaugh to the NCAA. Which is fine, if Harbaugh never plans to coach another college program. But it’s not fine if Harbaugh’s stirring of the college-level beehive results in a stick being poked in the NFL’s nest of hornets.
The league has taken action against folks who escaped NCAA punishment in the past (including former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and former Ohio State coach Terrelle Pryor). Last year, the NFL’s in-house media company reported that the league could impose some sort of a sanction on Harbaugh. This week, the NFL told PFT it had no comment on the matter.
Harbaugh, who has no apparent concern about or regard for the NCAA at this point, needs to at least be mildly concerned about the possibility of the NCAA saying to the NFL, “Hey, we take high-school football players and separate the wheat from the chaff, and it doesn’t cost you a dime. We’d appreciate it if you’d do something about this guy who thinks he can flip us off with impunity.”