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Wolverine TV podcast: Jim Harbaugh and the NCAA, answering your Michigan mailbag questions

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•08/14/23•

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(Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

On this episode of The Wolverine Live, Clayton Sayfie and Chris Balas discuss Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh no longer being set to serve a four-game suspension this coming season, the NCAA releasing a statement on the matter and more, before answering mailbag questions on football and basketball.

Watch this episode in the video player above or on our YouTube channel. Listen in the embed below or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Harbaugh and the NCAA proposed a negotiated resolution for the Level I infraction he’s facing, but the NCAA’s Committee On Infractions denied it. The case will now likely head to a hearing, probably after Michigan’s 2023 season. That means Harbaugh will more than likely be on the field for all 12 regular season games this fall and the NCAA case will be pushed down the road.

The twist of the weekend was NCAA vice president Derrick Crawford releasing a statement to a national reporter.

“The Michigan infractions case is related to impermissible on and off-campus recruiting during the COVID-19 dead period and impermissible coaching activities — not a cheeseburger,” said Crawford. “It is not uncommon for the [Committee on Infractions] to seek clarification on key facts prior to accepting. … If the involved parties cannot resolve a case through the negotiated resolution process, it may proceed to a hearing, but the committee believes cooperation is the best avenue to quickly resolve issues.”

“It’s kind of tainting, in my opinion, the trial process,” Sayfie said of the NCAA’s statement on the case involving the Michigan coach. “It’s one of those things where the NCAA is tainting its own process, and it feels like a desperate move by a guy who couldn’t get the negotiated resolution done before this hearing, which was his goal.”

“It’s a joke,” Balas added. “I think it was Stewart Mandel from The Athletic that said in 20 years he hasn’t seen the NCAA do something like this, so why are you trying to make an example of Jim Harbaugh?”

For now, the NCAA situation is on hold. Michigan is preparing for its 2023 season, with only 19 days until the season opener against East Carolina at The Big House. The Maize and Blue are ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP poll, its highest such placement since 1991 (also No. 2).

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