Big Ten suspending Jim Harbaugh for remainder of Michigan regular season

In unprecedented fashion, the Big Ten has levied a suspension for Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season, amid an NCAA investigation into the program for alleged illegal off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents in the same season in attempt of sign stealing.

The Big Ten released a statement confirming the news for Michigan:

The Big Ten Conference announced today that the University of Michigan has been found in violation of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy for conducting an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.

Big Ten Conference Agreement 10.01 states in part that “The Big Ten Conference expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of the competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials.”

As a penalty imposed on the institution, the University football team must compete without its Head Football Coach for the games remaining in the 2023 regular-season, effective immediately. This disciplinary action shall not preclude the University or its football team from having its Head Football Coach attend practices or other football team activities other than the game activities to which it applies. For clarity, the Head Football Coach shall not be present at the game venue on the dates of the games to which this disciplinary action applies.

The Big Ten Conference will have no additional comment at this time.

Days prior, the Big Ten sent Michigan notice of potential punishment under the conference’s sportsmanship policy. U-M had until Wednesday to respond, and did so with a 10-page written response from the school and another document from Harbaugh and his attorney, Tom Mars.

The Big Ten went through with its suspension.

According to TheWolverine.com sources, Michigan and Harbaugh are expected to swiftly file an injunction or temporary restraining order that, if granted by a judge, will allow Harbaugh to continue coaching. The Wolverines are 9-0, ranked No. 3 in the country and finish the regular season with games at Penn State (Nov. 11), at Maryland (Nov. 18) and against Ohio State (Nov. 25). Michigan kicks off against the Nittany Lions at noon ET Saturday, less than 24 hours from now.

Michigan’s response to the Big Ten was based primarily around the idea of due process and letting the NCAA investigative process play out, since there isn’t known evidence of Harbaugh directing or being involved in any way with the allegations. U-M stated that the rarely used sportsmanship policy hasn’t been utilized to issue a punishment before all of the facts of a case are known.

“We are not aware of a single instance in which the Sportsmanship Policy has ever been deployed as a backdoor way of holding an institution responsible for a rule violation that has not been established,” the Michigan letter read, according to Yahoo Sports.

“One point Michigan makes in its letter: The Big Ten is acting prematurely here,” Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel wrote. “The NCAA has not yet been able to provide significant evidence, according to Michigan, and the Big Ten is relying on ‘summaries and descriptions of evidence.’

“Michigan argues that the Big Ten’s evidence is so scant that it lacked any proof of almost any wrongdoing by even [former low-level staff member] Connor Stalions. Additionally, by providing so little actual evidence, Michigan has no ability to dispute the allegations at this time.”

U-M included evidence of its own offensive and defensive signs being deciphered by other Big Ten programs — Rutgers and Ohio State — and shared with Purdue ahead of last season’s conference championship game, which U-M won 43-22.

U-M argued that there is no threat to sportsmanship or competitive balance that might require immediate action, since the Wolverines have won their last two games — since the investigation opened and Stalions was away from the program — by an average margin of 38 points after winning the previous seven contests by an average of 34.

Michigan also gave a stern warning to the Big Ten about a potentially dangerous precedent it’s setting, especially considering it has already presented evidence of potential wrongdoing by Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue that could be in violation of the conference’s sportsmanship policy.

“The conference should act cautiously when setting precedent given the reality that in-person scouting, collusion among opponents, and other questionable practices may well be far more prevalent than believed,” Michigan’s letter wrote.

Stalions, who resigned last Friday, reportedly sent individuals to games to gather video and intel on future opponents, which may be in violation of NCAA bylaw 11.6.1. Stalions also may have attended at least one game himself — CMU vs. MSU Sept. 1, though CMU and the NCAA are currently investigating that situation.

According to Yahoo Sports, neither the NCAA nor the Big Ten have evidence that Harbaugh was aware of or directed Stalions’ alleged actions. However, under a new NCAA bylaw implemented earlier this year, the head coach is held responsible for what goes on in his program.

The Big Ten’s suspension comes on the heels of conference coaches and athletic directors expressing anger to Petitti during virtual calls last week, urging him to take action against Michigan.

Harbaugh was suspended for the first three games of this season, self-imposed by Michigan, stemming from a separate NCAA investigation into alleged minor recruiting and practice violations and an alleged Level I infraction against the ninth-year head coach for not cooperating with the probe.

Harbaugh is considered one of the most elite coaches in college football, with an 83-25 record in over eight and a half seasons at Michigan. Among Michigan coaches with 100-plus games coached, Harbaugh’s .769 winning percentage ranks third, behind Fielding Yost (.833) and Bo Schembechler (.796). Harbaugh played quarterback for Schembechler’s Wolverines from 1982-86, before becoming a first-round NFL Draft pick to the Chicago Bears.

During his time at U-M, which began in 2015, only two programs have won multiple Big Ten championships — Ohio State (4) and Michigan (2). The Maize and Blue are two-time defending conference champions. Harbaugh was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2022. Last season, U-M became the sixth program to make back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances and the seventh to compete in multiple CFPs.