Report: Michigan sends response to Big Ten after notice of potential discipline

On Monday, the Big Ten sent Michigan a notice about potential disciplinary action as a result of the ongoing sign-stealing investigation. The Wolverines had until Wednesday to respond to the notice as commissioner Tony Petitti weighs the possible next steps.

According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, that response came Wednesday afternoon.

Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellenger later reported Michigan listed multiple reasons against such action from the conference. UM argued any action from Petitti “would exceed the commissioner’s authority under the Sportsmanship Policy,” Dellenger wrote.

In addition, Michigan pointed out multiple documents and pictures of the Wolverines’ own offensive and defensive signs that were stolen by other teams. Reports came out Tuesday that multiple programs decoded Michigan’s signals and shared that information with other programs. In addition, the university said “unadjudicated rule violations cannot be the basis for a sportsmanship action,” Wetzel wrote.

In its letter, Michigan claimed the Big Ten is acting prematurely. Because the NCAA hasn’t come up with “significant evidence,” the university said the conference is relying on “summaries and descriptions of evidence,” Wetzel reported. Michigan also aregued the Big Ten had so little evidence, the conference had very little proof of any wrongdoing by now-former analyst Connor Stalions.

Because the university said the conference provided so little evidence, “Michigan has no ability to dispute the allegations at this time.”

The Big Ten’s sportsmanship clause, which is about the “integrity of competition” in the “competitive arena,” if the discipline is “standard” or “major.” All eyes are now on Jim Harbaugh and if any action will be taken against him.

The NCAA’s investigation into Michigan centered on Stalions, who resigned last week. He allegedly led a scheme to send people to opposing teams’ games to film the sidelines and steal their signals. According to multiple reports, he bought tickets to Big Ten and possible College Football Playoff opponents’ games as part of the plan.

Petitti has met with multiple groups of people over the last couple weeks to discuss a course of action. Last week, he met with Big Ten coaches and athletics directors, and a possible suspension of Harbaugh came up in the meeting with the ADs. No decision was made, though, and Pettiti ended up meeting with conference presidents, as well.

On Friday, Petitti was on campus in Ann Arbor for the Big Ten field hockey championships. While there, he met with Michigan president Santa Ono and others about where things stand. Ono also sent an email to Petitti’s office, as The Wolverine first reported, asking for due process throughout the investigation.

“It’s precisely at these times — when all key facts are not known but others are all too comfortable offering strongly held opinion — that it is essential for everyone to ensure that investigations are conducted fairly and that conclusions are based on what actually happened,” Ono wrote. “The reputation and livelihoods of coaches, students, and programs cannot be sacrificed in a rush to judgment, no matter how many and how loudly people protest otherwise. Due process matters.”

Michigan state lawmakers also weighed in on the matter on Wednesday. A group sent a letter to Petitti expressing a similar sentiment, calling on the Big Ten commissioner to stand down for the time being while the NCAA goes through its investigation.

“Should you, as the Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, rush to judgement or engage in any ill-considered actions, we will vigorously support our public universities in their efforts to compel fairness and due process,” the letter reads, in part.

Still, it’s shaping up to be a big week for Harbaugh and Michigan. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported a suspension of Harbaugh could be the “most likely” outcome as things go forward.

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this report.