Michigan AD Warde Manuel addresses NCAA notice of allegations against football program

Michigan Football is dealing with quite a bit of drama off the field. News broke on Thursday that Michigan received a Notice of Allegations regarding its football program. The Wolverines committed four Level II violations and one Level I violation.

Level II violations are considered relatively minor, but the Level I violation is serious. That’s against head coach Jim Harbaugh, who provided “false or misleading information” to investigators, The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach reported (you can read more from her reporting below).

Friday, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel addressed the NOA, releasing this statement:

“Yesterday, we received draft allegations from the NCAA regarding our football program. We have cooperated and will continue to cooperate with this investigation. Out of respect to the NCAA’s enforcement process, we will not offer further comments.”

More on Michigan, Harbaugh troubles with NCAA

News of the Level I violation broke earlier Thursday night when Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel reported details of the NCAA’s investigation. Harbaugh could be looking at a potential multi-game suspension as a result.

The Wolverines are under investigation for letting an analyst coach players and impermissible text messages, Auerbach and Austin Meek reported. As it turns out, those text messages were sent during the COVID-19 dead period, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Mark Schlabach reported Thursday night.

The Athletic initially reported Michigan self-reported the violations.

“Three sources who have knowledge of the investigation confirmed it included self-reported violations involving an analyst coaching players on the field,” Auerbach and Meek wrote. “It is unclear what the punishment from the NCAA would be.”