Breaking down Jim Harbaugh's potential four-game suspension, Michigan violations

News surfaced on Tuesday morning that the NCAA was negotiating a resolution over violations in the Michigan program for which coach Jim Harbaugh is likely to serve a four-game suspension.

The suspension stems from alleged false statements he made to NCAA investigators. It centered on an NCAA investigation into recent recruiting violations committed by the Wolverines’ staff members.

The news could be a blow to Michigan’s national title chances, though the schedule is fairly manageable through the first four games.

“If you think about it, you’d think about four games and you’d think only four games, that’s a third of the season,” The Wolverine’s Chris Balas said. “Then if it goes beyond that. And it’s all because of the cover-up being worse than the crime, according to what we’ve heard. Jim Harbaugh not being forthcoming, nobody would say he lied, but said, ‘Well I don’t remember’ about giving a kid or two a hamburger when they came up for an unexpected visit.”

A Yahoo! Sports report from Ross Dellenger broke down some of the particulars of the Michigan violations and subsequent aftermath.

“A quick resolution broke down in January after Harbaugh refused to admit that he lied to NCAA staff,” Dellenger wrote regarding Harbaugh. “The 59-year-old coach has maintained he didn’t recall the events when first speaking with investigators but that he was never purposefully dishonest.”

Former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who’s now with the Baltimore Ravens in the same position, is expected to receive a one-year show cause.

Balas pointed out, though, that the Michigan violations in question were not major ones.

“It’s not like they said, ‘Hey come on up and we’re going to take you out,” Balas said. “These kids drove I think 500, 600 miles or something like that. Committed players. Brings them to one of his favorite establishments and I don’t think he even paid for the burgers, I think he paid for the tip and signed off on it and he had a receipt.”

Regardless of intent, it seems clear Harbaugh is going to miss some games as a result. How Michigan handles that while he’s out will be key. The Wolverines have national title aspirations.

The goal is to make all this a quick afterthought with Harbaugh back on the sidelines with a 4-0 record by the end of September.

Michigan faces East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green and Rutgers in its first four games. All of them are at home.

“You know what, I’m not absolving him of blame, clearly. If it happened it happened,” Balas said of the Michigan violations. “But if you look at the national reaction, not just Michigan fans, everybody’s kind of scoffing at it if you look at pay-for-play and what’s going on out there. This pales in comparison.

“At the same time, the one thing that you know better than anybody probably is that the NCAA does not like being lied to. If you lie to them then you’re going to have to pay some consequences.”