CBS Sports reveals how Jim Harbaugh's exit impacts Michigan's pending NCAA investigations

With Jim Harbaugh off to the NFL, Michigan is still under the gun for a pair of ongoing NCAA investigation. And the what comes of those cases in terms of NCAA punishment is unclear.

CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson took a pass at unpacking how the two cases — one for Covid dead period violations and another for the impermissible scouting of former staffer Connor Stalions — will affect the Wolverines and Harbaugh going forward.

For Harbaugh, by going to the NFL, the worst the NCAA can reasonably levy against him is a show cause for some period of time. That would make it so any college program seeking to hire him has to “show cause” as to why they want to employ Harbaugh.

It could also result in a suspension for him after a potential return to the college game, however unlikely that may be.

As for Michigan, matters get more complex. Due to the school-imposed suspension at the beginning of the season for Harbaugh, the NCAA might agree on some mitigation for the first NCAA investigation involving the Covid dead period. However, the impermissible scouting investigation becomes more weighty.

There remain a number of unknowns, at least publicly: Who else on staff may have known, to what extent, and how the information Stalions gathered was potentially

The end result really comes down to whether or not the NCAA will be inclined to vacate wins. That will likely hinge on how convincing a case Michigan and it’s lawyers can make about the advantage gained and how it wasn’t actually large relative to the rest of college football. They’re also likely to argue that the success Michigan had on the field after the scandal broke is exculpatory to some level. Whether or not that strain of argument convinces the NCAA remains to be seen.

And vacated wins would mean potentially vacating the 2023 national championship, keeping the stakes plenty high for all involved.

The NCAA will also have to deal with the fact that NCAA president Charlie Baker said in January after the Wolverines won the national championship that Michigan had won it “fair and square,” a point Michigan’s representatives will be sure to bring up.

There could be other penalties for the Wolverines stemming from these investigations, like a scholarship reduction or coaches being limited in the number of days they can spending recruiting, which are not particularly noticeable.

The timeline for both of these cases is also in flux, as the NCAA judicial process needs to take place for the first one and a notice of allegations has yet to be delivered for the second.