Bruce Feldman interested to see Jim Harbaugh's reaction to four-game suspension

Jim Harbaugh is set to take the stand at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday morning, and fresh off being handed a four-game suspension — the Michigan head coach is going to have to answer some tough questions.

Fox Sports and The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and On3’s Andy Staples are going to be somewhere likely eating popcorn together watching Harbaugh defend himself about the finding that led to his suspension.

“He’s such a polarizing topic, I’m fascinated to see what, or how he answers it because you never know what you’re getting with him,” Feldman told Staples on On3’s podcast. “… I don’t know where the outrage meter on Jim Harbaugh is going to be … That’s the fun part; how does he respond to this? He is very unpredictable.”

The suspension is due to the 59-year-old head coach’s alleged false statements to NCAA investigators. It centered on an NCAA investigation into recent recruiting violations committed by the Wolverines’ staff members.

Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, has since released a statement on the matter. Though, Harbaugh himself has not commented on the suspension.

“We are continuing to work cooperatively with the NCAA staff on an enforcement matter.  At this time, we are not allowed to comment on possible penalties or other aspects of the matter,” Mars wrote, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Michigan ffensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and and tight ends coach Grant Newsome are expected to receive one-game suspensions as well. The punishments could spell disaster for the Wolverines, who will face East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green and Rutgers in their first four games — so largely, the suspension won’t matter in the long run for the Wolverines barring any Cinderella upsets during the first month of the season.

Accroding to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the NCAA is more upset with Harbaugh’s false statements than any recruiting violations.

“Harbaugh’s alleged initial cover-up was worse than the crime itself from the NCAA’s perspective,” Dellenger wrote. “In a notice of allegations sent to Michigan last year, the association cited four Level II violations, including meeting with two recruits during a COVID-19 dead period, texting a recruit outside of an allowable time period, having analysts perform on-field coaching duties during practice and having coaches watching players work out via Zoom.”

Harbuagh, alongside RB Blake Corum, DB Kris Jenkins and CB Mike Sainristil will take the podium Thursday morning at 11:30 a.m. ET. live on the Big Ten Network.