Report: NFL likely won't be 'safe harbor' for Jim Harbaugh from potential NCAA discipline
Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh and his program are the targets of an NCAA investigation into alleged illegal sign-stealing on top of recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have wondered if “enough is enough” and that it all may chase Harbaugh back to the NFL, but it might not be that cut and dry.
According to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport on Sunday, the league may not be willing to make itself available to Harbaugh as a means to escape potential discipline at Michigan. The idea is that it would like to see him serve some sort of discipline or suspension before he is able to return to the pros if that were of interest to him.
There is precedence to this, Pelissero and Rapoport say, going back to Jim Tressel and the “Tattoogate” scandal at Ohio State:
Back in 2011, Ohio State quarterback Terrell Pryor was facing a five-game suspension for trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos when he declared for the NFL supplemental draft. Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the five-game suspension, saying in a then-statement: “This smacks of a calculated effort to manipulate our eligibility rules.”
Tressel — who also was suspended five games by Ohio State, but ultimately resigned as Buckeyes coach amidst the scandal — had taken a game-day consultant job with the Colts, and the NFL’s decision on Pryor raised questions. As is often the case with coaches, the league allowed the team to handle the case, and the Colts announced Tressel wouldn’t be with the club until Week 7 of the 2011 season.
It wasn’t officially announced as a suspension, but in consultation with the NFL, the effect was the same. And the point was made: No one should escape discipline by leaving college for the pros.
That precedent could prove relevant for Harbaugh, who interviewed for the Vikings and Broncos head coaching jobs the past two offseasons, respectively.
Harbaugh has interviewed with two NFL teams the last two offseasons in the Minnesota Vikings (2022) and Denver Broncos (2023), ultimately deciding to remain at Michigan. In 2022, he got on a plane to interview with the Vikings at their team facility before reiterating his desire to stay at Michigan.
Harbaugh typically does not address his job status or future during the season.
“My wife, dad or brother, the people I trust the most, would be the only individuals that I would speak with regarding my future, and we have not had that conversation,” Harbaugh told NFL.com last month. Of course, that was prior to the latest bout of news at Michigan.
Harbaugh’s future remains unclear amid the latest dance with the NCAA. Multiple sources indicated to TheWolverine.com in recent weeks that a new contract extension at Michigan was in the works that would likely make him the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten. With the NCAA sharks swirling around Ann Arbor again, it appears those talks have been paused for the time being.
Michigan is back on the field Saturday night against Purdue at home.
