ncaa: the scandals
jim harbaugh
2022 ncaa investigation
[Bryan Fuller]

Seth Made Me Write This About The Notice Of Allegations Comment Count

Brian January 6th, 2023 at 1:50 PM

I didn't want to, because it doesn't matter. But he was very stern. He said "Brian, if you don't write something about the notice of allegations I will file A Notice Of You're A Jerk!" And  I said "what level?" And he said "LEVEL ONE!" And well man I don't want to get a level one notice of being a jerk and so here we are.

Harbaugh Offseason Fun-Type Substance went in a new direction yesterday when Michigan got hit with a notice of allegations from the NCAA. The charges are thus:

  • Michigan violated a COVID-19 dead period.
  • They watched player workouts over a video feed.
  • They used analysts to coach practice sessions.

Small beef that would generally result in a tit-for-tat response from the NCAA, like the practice hours given back after the RichRod towelgate investigation. It is grimly funny that the NCAA is still regulating this stuff at the same time NIL is a Wild West of competing money cannons, but justifying your existence is a powerful drug. This is not 2010, when the media had a conniption fit about similar minor practice issues, and this site isn't going to bother going through any hairshirt stuff about a bunch of rules that have no reason to exist being enforced by an organization that also has no reason to exist, at the same time that purportedly devastating NCAA sanctions levied after a literal FBI investigation were more or less blown off by every program involved.

Don't care.

But then there's the other thing:

The Level I allegation is that Harbaugh misled NCAA investigators when confronted with questions about the Level II allegations.

We'll have to see what the content of this allegation is. The ESPN story on the allegations phrases it differently:

Sources told ESPN that Harbaugh's cooperation with NCAA enforcement staff during the investigation is also being examined. … According to a source, the NCAA's draft of notice of allegations includes a Level I violation for Harbaugh not complying with or misleading NCAA investigators.

On the surface it doesn't make much sense to "mislead" NCAA investigators when the investigation is about the college football equivalent of going 37 in a 35 zone. But Harbaugh is weird. This has been established. I don't think he's weird enough to do something that would be career-threatening. Blowing a bunch of suits off because they're looking into the smallest of potatoes? Now that I can see happening.

The worst case scenario here seems to be Harbaugh watches a nonconference game or two from a luxury box. Next.

There is no content after the jump. There wasn't really any content before it.

Comments

PrestigeWorldwide

January 6th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^

I really hope Harbaugh just told investigators to Fuck Off. Well worth a couple game suspension. And if we ever get his exact quote, it would make a great t-shirt. Hopefully, Warde will do the same.

Joined: 03/27/2013

MGoPoints: 445

Germany_Schulz

January 6th, 2023 at 2:08 PM ^

Thanks for the post on this nothing burger, to go along with yummy hater-tots & blue Haterade. 

On a semi-serious note, I find the statistical probability - amazing that Harbaugh beats osu twice and wins the BigTen back2back and not even a week after the CFP -
- we've got the Michigan HATE machine (NCAA, media, etc) in full swing. 

It's almost like ALL of college football (hello refs) is against Harbaugh/Michigan being successful.  

Michigan vs Everyone?  Tell me I'm a conspiracy theorist.  

Go Blue.   

PS - Happy New Year!   We're Back 2 Back Big Ten Champions .... in FOOTBALL.  

Joined: 11/28/2015

MGoPoints: 6415

Seth

January 6th, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^

Actually what I said was something more like "I need to start writing something so unless you tell me otherwise in a few minutes I'm going to start on the MSU preview and you get the Harbaugh/NCAA bullshit."

Joined: 10/14/2008

MGoPoints: 149219

BlueHills

January 6th, 2023 at 2:14 PM ^

Given that the NCAA currently controls nothing when it comes to college football due to the NIL money, they do this kind of chicken shit thing in a lame attempt to justify their continued existence.

It's laughable.

Joined: 10/31/2010

MGoPoints: 7468

Perkis-Size Me

January 6th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^

 As Dutch Van Der Linde once said, "They have to justify their wages." 

The NCAA has to justify and validate its existence. They know what their reputation is to the outside world. That they are a spineless organization that really has no credibility or control, but they need to create the illusion of control to make it seem like they're still in charge. And its easy(er) to do that by going after a big program that has historically not fought back against their investigations. 

Its a win for them to be able to say they are slapping penalties on big, bad Michigan, and they don't have to worry as much about Michigan taking those penalties and wiping their rear end with them publicly.

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105740

rice4114

January 6th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^

The NCAA is here to make sure Big ten (PSU OSU UM) and PAC12 (USC) teams stay in line.

Miami, Kansas, Texas a and m, LSU, Ole miss, bama, and Auburn need not be hassled with the squeaky clean programs they run.

Joined: 08/26/2010

MGoPoints: 47270

maizenbluenc

January 6th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^

Yeah, I am firmly in the camp of tell the NCAA they lost all credibility starting with Cam Newton, through UNC, and the FBI / Kansas, Arizona, et al. They can go back to their hole and stay there.

Honestly, put the banners up and give Reggie his trophy back. Screw the NCAA.

Joined: 07/21/2009

MGoPoints: 10630

KRK

January 6th, 2023 at 3:03 PM ^

The Brittney Collins story still takes the cake for me.  UMass tennis player who won a NC and had it stripped because the school overpaid her for her tuition by $252.  The reason they overpaid her was she told the school she didn't plan to use the landline in her dorm so they waived the charge.  The details are even crazier when you read it.  The school self-reported it because it was a nothing infraction and explained how the student housing department made a mistake. Boom, title gone.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 5605

Perkis-Size Me

January 6th, 2023 at 4:32 PM ^

Its kind of like when people wonder why the IRS spends so much time hunting down middle class Americans who may have made an honest mistake in slightly mis-calculating what they owe to the government, when there are plenty of rich scumbags out there who owe thousands, if not millions, in taxes that they just blatantly don't pay and seem to get away with it. 

Its easier to go after targets who don't have the means to fight back. Who don't have the time, money and resources to say "Alright f**k you IRS, the team of tax attorneys that I keep on retainer and I will see you in court."

Its easier to pick on a tennis player from UMass because she generally does not have the means to fight back to the NCAA like, say, the Duke basketball program or Alabama football program would. She doesn't have the clout or public support (through no fault of her own) that those other programs do. 

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105740

KRK

January 6th, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^

My dad's best friend represented a FCS school in a NCAA investigation over alleged improprieties.  Eventually the only thing they could find was a wife of a "booster" (whatever that means at the FCS level) would make dinner for a handful of players the night before a game.  They lived next door to the players house and she had been doing it for years because the house was perennially rented by football players.  My dad's buddy said the investigators were two young lawyers and had the shittiest personalities and were the most overzealous attorneys he's ever seen. Said they practically demanded a deeply written out explanation for every coaches receipt and a minute-by-minute detailing of every recruit visit.  If you couldn't produce enough info, they assumed you were guilty of an infraction.  The biggest takeaway he had was that nothing the NCAA does in these investigations would ever hold up in a court of law.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 5605

tybert

January 6th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^

I'm retired from industry now, but remember how the regulatory agencies (EPA, OSHA, etc.) would come in an audit and ALWAYS find something. Maybe someone forgot to complete or document fire ext. checks from March 2020, or someone was one month overdue in completing training on Safe Work permitting. etc. The initial announcement of "findings" was always worded more seriously than any final settlement - words like serious, significant, Level 1, etc. 

I suspect JH was probably miffed that Ohio seemed to get away with practicing during a covid period (Al Washington) but never charged. Strange bird that he is, I can definitely see him being pissy toward investigators. Never a good thing, but I suspect he gets a game or two off to start next year. Urban ONLY got three games for covering up the domestic abuse of Earle Bruce's grandson on his staff, so really anything more than 1 game is ridiculous.

The other allegations will amount to nothing more than a few recruit visits being docked.

Hopefully, Warde handles this well - no additional punishment other than losing pay from a game or two. And letting Jim know in spite of this, we still have his back means he sticks. 

Joined: 11/17/2008

MGoPoints: 8453