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Wolverine TV podcast: Talking all things Jim Harbaugh, Michigan from Big Ten Media Days

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•07/28/23•

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Jim Harbaugh Big Ten Media days
(Photo by Spencer Holbrook / Lettermen Row)

On this episode of TheWolverine.com podcast, Clayton Sayfie, Chris Balas and Anthony Broome recap Big Ten Media Days from a Michigan Wolverines football perspective, giving their takeaways on plenty of different topics, including head coach Jim Harbaugh‘s response to NCAA violations and a potential suspension, Harbaugh’s view on the program and his 2023 team, position battles, potentially moving the Michigan-Ohio State game off the final week of the regular season, Harbaugh’s stance on the one-time transfer rule and NIL and some quick-hitters at the end, including that MSU coach Mel Tucker still hasn’t reached out to Harbaugh to apologize for his players, unprovoked, attacking U-M athletes last year.

“He didn’t even lie about it, he just said he didn’t remember,” Balas said, discussing the violation against the Michigan coach for misleading investigators.’ “That’s a common defense strategy. But about seven or eight people tried to bait him into saying something, and he said, ‘I can’t. You don’t understand; I can’t during the investigation.’ It didn’t stop them from trying.'”

“It’s kinda funny to watch a lot of these reporters, and especially some of them — I’m not outing any of them — they’re not capable of playing the mental gymnastics that would coerce a response out of Jim Harbaugh,” Broome added of the Michigan situation. “So it is funny to see a lot of people keep trying. And the NCAA — because let’s call it what it is — they’re the ones who leaked this to ESPN earlier this week. It’s just such weasel behavior, and it goes back to this being essentially … Jim Harbaugh is essentially being tried in a kangaroo court right now. That’s my take on the whole situation.

“Yeah, I get it. Technically, the NCAA is the governing body of intercollegiate athletics. You can’t exactly tell them to pound sand, but all of these other schools do it and they get a slap on the wrist. … They’re mall cops. That’s what they are! So the fact that they come out and that report comes out and you’ve got these reporters trying to play tennis match with Jim Harbaugh and aren’t getting served anything back — because it’s a legal matter. There are lawyers involved with the NCAA, there are lawyers involved with Michigan, there are lawyers involved with Jim Harbaugh. It’s just such weasel behavior that goes back to why this is all so frivolous in the first place.

“I thought he handled it as well as he could have. He couldn’t say anything, but even when Jim Harbaugh couldn’t say anything, he finds a way to kind of weave in some of his personal feelings on it, saying ‘We have nothing to be ashamed of,’ and ‘Trust me, I would love to disclose what happened.'”

Watch or listen to the full Michigan podcast below.

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