Paul Finebaum advises Big Ten's Tony Petitti to 'be careful' with Jim Harbaugh, Michigan punishment

After being urged by the league’s coaches and others to intervene in Michigan‘s sign-stealing allegations, the Big Ten has done just that, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Wednesday that the conference is expecting a response from Michigan regarding their notice of discipline by the end of the day on Wednesday.

The Big Ten is expected to come to a decision by Thursday after fully absorbing Michigan’s response, but Wolverines’ head coach Jim Harbaugh is also expected to receive some sort of punishment as a result.

Wednesday morning on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ college football analyst Paul Finebaum gave some advice to Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti regarding potentially handing punishment down to Harbaugh and the Michigan program.

“I think Tony Petitti is doing the right thing by jumping in immediately Greeny,” Finebaum said to host Mike Greenberg. “But I think he better be careful before he starts handing down punishment. First of all, I’m sure Michigan lawyers are ready to go crazy with all kinds of lawsuits, and junctions, and who knows what else, and they may very well be successful because this is not really the normal protocol. I realize it’s within the rules of the Big Ten, but normally these things are handled through the NCAA.”

Petitti and the Big Ten are allowed to hand down a two-game suspension and a $10,000 fine according to standard policy, with the number of games potentially increasing with permission from an executive board which also seems likely to happen.

“So I applaud Petitti on one hand, I think the real issue is, is he going to let Jim Harbaugh coach a team when most people in this point in time, that’s not the measure but that’s what most people think, that he has broken and shattered the rules,” Finebaum said.

Adam Rittenberg and Tom VanHaaren reported on Tuesday that three Big Ten teams — Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers — communicated about Michigan’s signs in the past, citing that the programs worked collaboratively in giving Purdue the Wolverine’s signals ahead of the 2022 Big Ten Championship game.

But Finebaum made it clear that what matters most in the current situation between Michigan and the Big Ten is if Harbaugh was aware of the potential advanced scouting that was happening under his own roof during his tenure at Ann Arbor.

“What you said a minute ago is interesting, and a lot of Michigan fans are going crazy, going he said, she said, pointing at other schools. That has nothing to do with this, it doesn’t matter what happened in the Big Ten Championship game, it matters whether Jim Harbaugh was aware, or even if he wasn’t aware, why wasn’t he aware of all the rules breaking that apparently has gone on at the University of Michigan,” Finebaum explained.

Whether Harbaugh was aware or not, punishment can still be coming in his direction from the Big Ten, as ESPN’s Heather Dinich explained the exact verbiage that could result in yet another suspension for Michigan’s head man.

“Well I just wanted to tell you the exact rule that you’re talking about, because it’s not just the head coach knowledge, it’s the head coach can be responsible for the actions of his staff and individuals associated with the program,” Dinich said. “That’s the exact wording.”

A suspension of Harbaugh would come during the most pivotal stretch of the seasons for the Wolverines, as they face their only ranked opponents of the season in two of their last three regular-season games before postseason play begins.