Pete Thamel: Jim Harbaugh could face suspension due to sign-stealing scandal

Michigan football is embroiled in scandal once again, and ESPN’s Pete Thamel believes head coach Jim Harbaugh could be in for further suspension once the new investigation clears up.

He joined College GameDay on Saturday morning to discuss the new sign-stealing scandal that’s rocked Ann Arbor in the back half of this week. To start, he offered a quick rundown of what’s actually happened so far.

“This has clearly transcended the normal coach complaining about sign stealing in game. The difference here, obviously, is that Michigan is accused of sending someone on staff to opposing games — which is illegal under NCAA rules. We’ve seen the first tangible repercussion Friday when an analyst named Connor Stalions was suspended with pay.”

Thamel continued, predicting that this latest run-in with the NCAA likely won’t have any effect o the current season or Michigan’s title aspirations since these investigations are known to drag out for years. Heck, Kansas just received their punishments stemming from an FBI probe back in 2017. So Thamel says that the 2023-24 Michigan squad is probably in the clear.

“I think there’s two key questions going forward for Michigan. One: will it impact this season? The short answer: probably not. NCAA investigations tend to take years to litigate. The college season is going to end in January and it’d be highly surprising to people familiar with NCAA cases if something happens to Michigan that impacts the current season.”

Thamel’s second question centers around Harbaugh and whether he earns further suspension after the program volunteered to hold him out for the first few games of this season.

“The second and more interesting is what can happen with Jim Harbaugh. Michigan is already under NCAA investigation for alleged recruiting improprieties. Harbaugh could be vulnerable for head coach responsibility, and he’s already tagged with that in the current investigation. He’s vulnerable to further suspension when you bring in these allegations. So Jim Harbaugh’s future could end up with more games suspended as Michigan moves forward into 2024.”

Even though Harbaugh hasn’t been named as one of the staffers directly involved with the scandals, as the sitting head coach, all violations sort of come under his umbrella. So he’s now looking at separate violations where he’s not involved per se, but will face the brunt of the punishment if it comes. And if Harbaugh’s staring down the barrel with two scandals and possible further suspension, he very well could just bolt back to the NFL when this season ends. We’ll just have to see.