Desmond Howard explains why there has been 'reckless speech' regarding Michigan scandal

ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard has made his stance on the Michigan sign-stealing allegations very clear since news first broke of the investigation last month.

That continued Friday morning on “Get Up” as Howard defended the Wolverines and spoke out against others who have been hard on Michigan.

“There’s been so much reckless speech on your show about this situation that I don’t even know where to begin. This thing has been a rush to judgment on scant information. You have a rookie commissioner, who seems to have been put in a position where he’s almost being bullied by coaches and ADs who have like a competitive agenda, so to speak,” Howard said.

“Now, here we are, with this going on, with Michigan playing Penn State. People talking about they had a competitive advantage; they’re trying to link to what happened in ’21 and ’22.”

Desmond Howard played at Michigan and was a star for the Wolverines, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1991. It’s no surprise that Howard is defending the program he played for and is close to.

Howard added that he believes Michigan has had success the last few years because of good coaching and good players, not because of sign stealing.

“Let me give you a little rundown here, and the guys in the studio, they’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. When Michigan played Ohio State in ’21, the score at halftime was 13-14 Michigan. The final score was 27-42 Michigan,” Howard said.

“If you had some sort of competitive advantage, it would have shown up in the first half. The guys on the set know exactly what I’m talking about. Last year, halftime score, 17-20 Ohio State. The final score, 45-23 Michigan. What Jim Harbaugh did, in ’21 he hired Mike Macdonald, defensive coordinator, he came from the NFL. He came from the Baltimore Ravens. He brought NFL concepts to Michigan.

“Mike Macdonald left and became the DC in Baltimore. Then he hired Jesse Minter. Jesse Minter also has an NFL background. I told you those scores at halftime because the guys on the set will tell you, great coaches, they make great in-game adjustments. So that tells you at halftime, one coaching staff made some adjustments. The other coaching staff probably didn’t.”  

It is hard to know just how much sign-stealing contributed to Michigan’s success in recent years. Even though Howard believes the impact was minimal, others have disagreed — whether it be coaches at other schools or commentators like the ones he complained about on “Get Up.”