Jim Harbaugh doubles down on Michigan's innocence after National Championship

Michigan perfectly defended one of the best teams in the nation, but it’s still defending itself. After the Wolverines’ victory over Washington on Monday, head coach Jim Harbaugh addressed how his team dealt with the cheating allegations that loomed over them this season.

“People asked how we dealt with the distractions, and that was one of the ways we dealt with it. We knew we were innocent. We stood tall, upright and innocent,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh served two suspensions this season — one for an NCAA investigation into COVID-19 dead period recruiting violations and another for the highly publicized sign-stealing scandal around former staff member Connor Stalions.

Harbaugh missed six games as a result of the two suspensions. He sat out the first three games as a self-imposed ban as a result of comments he allegedly made to investigators surrounding the violations during the COVID-19 dead period. Then, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti suspended him for the final three regular season games due to the sign-stealing scandal.

Despite the punishments passed down by the Big Ten, Harbaugh maintained he and his program were innocent. The 60-year-old head coach doubled down on his stance after winning the national title.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” Harbaugh said. “It went exactly how we wanted it to go, to win every game. Off the field issues, we’re innocent. And we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. I’d just like to point that out. These guys are innocent. Overcome that, wasn’t that hard because we knew we were innocent.

“That’s, really, what I wanted to say. It went exactly how we wanted it to go.”

Jim Harbaugh wins in the end

From an on-the-field standpoint, Harbaugh couldn’t have asked for a better season. Michigan finished with a perfect 15-0 record and boasted a historically-good defense that only allowed 267 yards per game, the least in the country.

Michigan’s stellar defense showed up in spades against Washington, only giving up 14 points to the Huskies. For reference, Washington averaged 36 points per contest this season. Harbaugh couldn’t be happier for his team.

“Lastly, I just want to point out, nothing fancy here,” Harbaugh said, pointing to his players. “There’s nothing surprising. It was just good old fashioned teamwork, good old fashioned hard work by these players and these coaches. None of us are up here taking a deep long bow because know this was good old fashioned teamwork.”