Paul Finebaum explains why Tony Petitti 'needs to take Jim Harbaugh out of the quotient'

Punishment from the Big Ten for the Michigan sign-stealing scandal appears to be coming for the Wolverines and head coach Jim Harbaugh. For now, though, there is a lot of debate about what should happen.

On Wednesday’s Get Up, there was a debate about how both Harbaugh should be punished and if the team itself should be banned from the College Football Playoff. It’s a difficult position for new Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti to be in, as Paul Finebaum explained.

“I think that’s why I said the commissioner has to split the difference somewhere,” Paul Finebaum said. “He’s already sent a message, we understand, that there is going to be a penalty here. To me, this is like being indicted and you work for a company and they say we’re gonna suspend you indefinitely until we can clarify that. Now, I realize we’re getting into another world here but in many respects, Jim Harbaugh has been indicated here.”

Ultimately, Finebaum explained that Jim Harbaugh, as the head coach, is the one who should be punished at this point, while the investigation is ongoing.

“He’s been accused of it and the commissioner wouldn’t be moving forward if he hasn’t seen evidence that would support at least the air of malfeasance. So, that’s why I think he needs to take Jim Harbaugh out of the quotient,” Finebaum said. “Bottom line, players can still play. They’ve already had three games this year without Jim Harbaugh, and they’ve done quite well. Harbaugh, to me, is the problem.”

The standard suspension for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy in the Big Ten is two games. However, it’s been reported that could be expanded with approval from the league’s executive board.

There are those like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith who have called for Michigan to be banned from this year’s College Football Playoff. However, as far as Finebaum is concerned, that would be going too far at this point.

“Now, what Stephen A. said is really too big of a hill to climb. You can’t take a team out of the Playoff while the process is going on because they’ll be disqualified from it,” Finebaum said.

“So, I understand where his heart is and I think a lot of coaches agree with him in principle but in practicality, you can’t do that right now.”

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

Amid all of this debate about how Tony Petitti should punish Michigan and Jim Harbaugh, Paul Finebaum warned that the commissioner needs to be careful

“I think Tony Petitti is doing the right thing by jumping in immediately, Greeny. 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,” Finebaum said.

“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.”