Paul Finebaum reverses course, criticizes Jim Harbaugh's response to NCAA suspension

Paul Finebaum has been defending Jim Harbaugh following the news breaking about his likely four-game suspension for the start of the season. But, as he told Mike Greenberg on Friday’s episode of Get Up, “it ends right now.”

The reason why is not what one might think. Finebaum changed his tune on Harbaugh because of his response at Big Ten Media Days, which Finebaum felt could have been much punchier.

“I think what he should have done was tell the truth and say this is what happened,” Finebaum said. “What was the NCAA going to do hit to him at this point? Are they going to dock him his right to have (a) vanilla or chocolate chip cookie at training camp? It really didn’t matter. He came off well. He didn’t hurt himself. I appreciate that. But I frankly would have liked to see him go much farther.”

Finebaum said the response was more than fine in a nutshell but he would have hoped for something more.

“As you probably already know, I’m not allowed to talk about any aspect of that ongoing situation,” Harbaugh said at Big Ten Media Days. “I’m with you, I would love to lay it all out there. Nothing to be ashamed of. But now is not that time. That’s about all there is to say about that.”

Harbaugh’s expected suspension will be because of lying to NCAA investigators. But Finebaum called it “beyond a clown show” earlier in the week because, as he described it “essentially, he’s accused of buying somebody a hamburger and then not telling the truth about it.”

“Don’t eject me out of my seat here, but I’m starting to respect Jim Harbaugh for standing firm and refusing to go down the NCAA’s path,” Finebaum said on Wednesday’s episode of Get Up. “This could have been over with a long time ago, but Harbaugh would not admit he lied. And because the NCAA is so backwards and so antediluvian, they ended up with this agreement.

“In the end, the NCAA has no jurisdiction over anyone or anybody and they can’t push things too far, because the schools will take them to court and the NCAA maybe will lose. But in the end, I think Jim Harbaugh looks really good here and this might be my final broadcast ever on this earth, because I’m leaving.”