Pete Thamel gives latest from Jim Harbaugh lawyer Tom Mars on suspension injunction vs. Big Ten

After the Big Ten ruled Friday that Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh would have to miss the final three games of the regular season as part of a suspension over the alleged sign stealing scandal, Harbaugh and the school are pushing back.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who joined College GameDay Saturday morning to break down the latest with the situation, Michigan has no clue whether Harbaugh will coach vs. Penn State despite Friday’s decision from the conference. Here was his live report:

“The latest is that the Michigan team busses are scheduled to roll into Beaver Stadium at 9:35 a.m. (Eastern Time) and Michigan has no idea if Jim Harbaugh is going to coach that game. Just minutes ago, I talked to Tom Mars, Jim Harbaugh’s attorney, and he said they’re hopeful there will be a temporary restraining order hearing scheduled before kickoff, but that’s not certain.”

As of his reporting, that had not happened, said Thamel.

“So right now, three hours before kick, Michigan has no idea if Jim Harbaugh’s going to get the legal hearing he would need in order to coach the game on Saturday.”

Thamel then added some further detail on the legal action Harbaugh and his lawyers are waiting on: “In legalese, Michigan is waiting for word on an ex parte motion for the temporary restraining order which was filed last night.”

The ex parte motion is the latest act in a flurry of legal moves by attorneys representing Michigan and Jim Harbaugh. They must be working in overdrive, because just hours after the Big Ten first announced the suspension for Harbaugh on Friday, those defense teams for Harbaugh and Michigan were able to draft up 20 pages worth of documents to file for motions.

They first filed a breach of contract complaint to the Big Ten for violating their own due process rules in punishing Harbaugh prematurely. Then, they tacked on a temporary restraining order request allowing for Harbaugh to remain on the sidelines for now, since his absence in any game would cause “irreparable” harm to the team.

In those legal filings, Thamel says Michigan used some pretty testy language.

“Obviously, yesterday, the Big Ten ruled that Harbaugh could not coach the remainder of the regular season. They used the word ‘integrity’ 24 times in their ruling. Last night, in the filing to get the temporary restraining order, Michigan fired back with some pretty salty language. They called the Big Ten’s actions… ‘fraudulent, unlawful, unethical and unjustified.'”

That matches up with what the school had said earlier in the week. The Big Ten initially warned Michigan of potential punishment several days ago and the school immediately fired back, issuing their own warning back to the conference that they’d be breaking some of their own rules by punishing the program or Harbaugh prematurely.

Well, the Big Ten punished him anyway and Michigan has not wavered in their fight back on the matter. Now, we have a Saturday morning legal showdown back in Michigan while the UM football team awaits some judge’s decision before knowing whether their head coach will be with the team on the field today.

“Will a judge rule that way? Will the judge hear the case before kick? The drama’s gonna go right up to noon,” Thamel stated to finish his report.

If they do rule in Michigan and Harbaugh’s favor, ESPN also noted that Coach Harbaugh is in position to be immediately transported to the stadium to rejoin his team, though he is not at the stadium at the moment.

UPDATE: Ruling ‘should be soon’

A little bit after his spot on College GameDay, Pete Thamel had more news on the legal situation with Jim Harbaugh and Michigan. In regards to the ex parte motion and temporary restraining order that could be granted this morning, Thamel said there should be an update soon. Of course, if the court rules in Michigan’s favor this morning, Jim Harbaugh can rejoin the team for today’s game vs. Penn State.

Here was Thamel’s full update:

“Latest on Jim Harbaugh’s request for a temporary restraining order, which he needs to coach at Penn State today. Harbaugh attorney Tom Mars tells ESPN that a ruling ‘should be soon.’ So the possibility remains if the TRO is granted that Harbaugh could still coach today.”

Any minute now before we know Harbaugh’s fate.