NCAA's "punishment deferral" relative to Harbaugh, UM, & NCAA itself
The NCAA's "punishment deferral" of coach Harbaugh and UM is effectively greater punishment than the initial agreed-upon sanction itself. While the NCAA publicly discusses the case (violating their own rule), and perpetuates the topic to the 2024 season, coach Harbaugh declines to comment, abiding by the very rule the NCAA self violates. The NCAA has intentionally and effectively created a "cloud of negatively" that has become a media focus, and is a punishment in itself. This cloud has detrimental potential to overshadow our coach, program, and university. Hopefully, coach(es), players, recruits, and families are able to overcome the intentional negativity created by the NCAA's "punishment deferral," and now being perpetuated by media and rival athletic institutions. The NCAA, in choosing this passive-aggressive stance, succeeds only in proving itself to be an ignorant, vengeful, impotent bully. Meanwhile, the collegiate athletic world evolves from NCAA influence and control. The NCAA's handling of UM has a desperate, pathetic look, and may prove to be a milestone in the NCAA's continuing demise.
August 15th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
From what I've seen across the internet and other sports media is that the only "cloud of negativity" that has been created is one that the NCAA farted out around itself. Michigan and Harbaugh look better and better through all this.
August 15th, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^
"“I think this is a critical time in this industry, which is one reason I put my hand up to serve,” says Jim Stapleton, an attorney and former regent at Eastern Michigan University. “This group can really make a difference.”
So Jim Stapleton is on the NCAA enforcement committee. Does his name ring a bell to anyone? It should, he was the Viking's minority owner who strongly objected to them hiring Jim last year and has been a vocal and strong critic of Harbaugh throughout his tenure in Ann Arbor.
I'm no tin foil hat guy but this definitely stinks. Looks VERY personal which would explain why the committee rejected the plea agreement and is trying to get much harsher punishment levied.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:08 PM ^
Potential conflict of interest?
August 15th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
What if Michigan decided not to play their games you think Mr. Stapleton would be that important then? He's not as important in the grand scheme of things.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:14 PM ^
IIRC (sorry been a while since I read JUB’s ‘Three & Out’), Stapleton is also the person who tried to sabotage Rich Rodriguez’s regime by providing Rosenberg the info for his Free Press exposé leading to the eventual NCAA investigation as retribution for not hiring his guy, Ron English, as HC who he went on to hire at EMU in 2009.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
It should, he was the Viking's minority owner who strongly objected to them hiring Jim last year
Granted, he did us a solid there.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
Thank you Mr Stapleton ALMIGHTY!!!
August 15th, 2023 at 1:33 PM ^
From the article:
"It's the cheating to create the best team that makes it complicated."
So apparently it's the NCAA's judgement that Michigan derived unfair competitive advantage from an analyst doing some unpermitted coaching during the pandemic, a zoom session being held during the pandemic, and two Michigan recruits who already committed to Michigan visiting campus on their own, and had lunch with Harbaugh at a cheap breakfast/burger joint on campus.
Meanwhile: Texas spending $280,000 on a recruiting weekend and putting up recruits and their families in a 4-star hotel and arranging boat tours for them doesn't give Texas an unfair recruiting advantage over, say, Iowa State, Kansas State, Purdue, Oregon St, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, or most other P5 institutions whose athletic departments aren't flush with cash from gas & oil barons.
Meanwhile: North Carolina conducts massive academic fraud via joke courses very conveniently made available to varsity athletes, and the NCAA shrugs it off because non-athletes took the courses as well.
Meanwhile: Arizona admits to a number of infractions involving illegal financial inducement and other actions committed by assistant coaches: "Two of Miller's three assistant coaches committed intentional violations involving fraudulent academic transcripts, receipt of cash bribes, facilitating a meeting with an aspiring agent, impermissible inducements and recruiting violations all within an 18-month period". And for all that, the NCAA accepts Arizona's self-imposed one-year ban on post-season play, and imposes a one-time 7-week non-contact period for recruiting. No scholarships are reduced, and Sean Miller gets a new head coaching gig at Xavier. No show cause for him.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
So apparently it's the NCAA's judgement that Michigan derived unfair competitive advantage from an analyst doing some unpermitted coaching during the pandemic, a zoom session being held during the pandemic, and two Michigan recruits who already committed to Michigan visiting campus on their own, and had lunch with Harbaugh at a cheap breakfast/burger joint on campus.
Michigan has conceded to the Level 2 violations. Those are usually violations that teams self report and receive no punishment for. The only Level 1 violation is the supposed lying that we still have seen no proof of
August 15th, 2023 at 1:43 PM ^
Well put Don. Now do LSU & the "damn good offer" and Tennessee situation where the NCAA defied their own set rules on bowl-bans rather than punish the Volunteers for what has been described by some as the most egregious violations of NCAA rules.
It's very clear to me this is personal. Now whether the venom is directed at Michigan the school or Harbaugh the coach I'm not entirely sure. But I am sure this is personal.
August 15th, 2023 at 3:55 PM ^
"Strong ass offer", I believe.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
You didn't even bring up the programs whose violations were so egregious that the FBI was involved, 4 coaches were arrested, 2 got prison sentences and 2 got probation and community service. I guess bribery falls under the same category for the NCAA as the classroom ethics situation with North Carolina. Apparently they must not have a statute that addresses bribery so they have no way to enforce any penalties.
August 15th, 2023 at 4:00 PM ^
I'll get hammered for this. But if M broke rules, it broke rules. You can engage in whataboutism, sure, but that's ethical relativism. Nobody here had a problem with other programs getting penalized for recruiting violations during covid. Do Michigan's presumed violations mean the program deserves a huge punishment? No, probably not But if Harbaugh lied to investigators, well, how is that different from when Tressel lied to investigators over TattooGate?
August 15th, 2023 at 4:51 PM ^
IF IF IF IF IF
Also what the fuck?
August 15th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Michigan self-reported two of the three Level 2 violations. If Harbaugh didn't recall paying the tip for some comp'd cheeseburgers, how is that lying?
The NCAA has not even issued the NoA for these incidents, so there's a long ways to go in this story.
August 16th, 2023 at 1:17 AM ^
One more point worth mentioning is that the only advantage here would (theoretically) be from buying the hamburger, and the NCAA said it wasn't about that. It's about bruising their ego when Jim didn't come clean about the burger. Absolutely ZERO competitive advantage to be found from not being forthright about the hamburger.
August 15th, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^
If Stapleton's name is connected in any way, shape, manner, or form I would immediately ignore anything mentioned past that discovery. I don't know that I have ever heard anything positive when his name was mentioned relative to Michigan.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:09 PM ^
but but but Pete Finebaum says both sides look bad! Harbaugh should just admit he lied!
/s obviously
August 15th, 2023 at 1:34 PM ^
Yeah, I spend a bit of time on Reddit's CFB board and just about everybody thinks this is a joke. There's one credulous Spartan fan who is trying to make it a big deal, but the general attitude among even Buckeyes and other Spartans isn't quite so silly.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:38 PM ^
Yes and no. While it has made the NCAA look stupid, this can and will be used as negative recruiting against us. The uncertainty of it all will be used by other teams to make recruits second guess wanting to come here
August 15th, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
The NCAA has no involvement in the current / planned College Football Playoff - and, this is the cash cow of NCAA sports. The Dance is a very significant revenue contributor - but also, the only major sport college playoff that contributes materially to the NCAA's revenue stream.
I agree it's a "bad look" for the NCAA - and, wonder what's going to become of this situation.
Speaking in public about things that are in - or may enter - the court system, particularly when rules are established to not comment on such matters - seems to be going around. A very, very unfortunate circumstance.
August 15th, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
Mgoblog version of letters to the editor.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
I've often thought about asking Brian / Seth if I could start a football-themed op-ed section during the season...
August 15th, 2023 at 12:49 PM ^
Thank you Comrade, your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
August 15th, 2023 at 12:55 PM ^
Thanks for the update. I am almost positive everyone here except a couple of people already thinks the NCAA is a joke. As for the demise of the NCAA, the NCAA is an association that college presidents are voluntarily a member of. However, it's probably more like being a member of a homeowners association where the president has a power trip and everyone is scared to leave because they like their home.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:00 PM ^
Regarding the cloud, I genuinely don't think Jim gives a shit at this point. If he doesn't get his way down the road, he'll bounce to the NFL. In the meantime, he just wants to focus on the season. The last thing he wants to think about is the NCAA. Knibb High Football Rules!
August 15th, 2023 at 1:08 PM ^
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
This Harbaugh vs the NCAA thing isn’t even on the radar for most people outside of Michigan. I think it will quietly go away like many are starting to predict.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
Sure, but how many Snickers bars per day is this "cloud of negativity" worth?
August 15th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
I guess three threads on the topic with 93, 119, and 173 comments over the past 2 days wasn't enough...
August 15th, 2023 at 1:37 PM ^
Wash, rinse, spin cycle on, repeat!!!
August 15th, 2023 at 1:57 PM ^
Harbs was a Heisman finalist.
NFL MVP finalist.
NFL Super Bowl coach.
Soon to be CFB Champion coach.
I highly doubt recruits and their families could give a flying fuck if he remembers whether or not he might have violated NCAA rules by paying for a couple lunches. Especially when he keeps getting the number of kids he does NFL contracts.
And no, any objective person looks at this and sees how completely idiotic the NCAA is.
Just keep fighting this stupid shit. Are they going to ban us? At the end of this season Michigan will probably be in 5 of the top TV viewer games of the year. Shit maybe even THE top 5. Even TV execs would step in and tell the NCAA to fuck off.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^
Can't the Michigan legislature pass an "I am rubber, you are glue" law like Texas and make it illegal for the NCAA to mete out any punishment?
August 15th, 2023 at 3:32 PM ^
*The following response has been edited because it provides a political response to your question*
/s
August 15th, 2023 at 2:04 PM ^
I’m ready to just talk about the season. Harbaugh has a pit bull for an attorney who will more than likely take the ncaa to the mat. Let’s win it all!
August 15th, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
I'm just here to scan for obscenities. I assume Michigan Realist will be here soon to tell us why Harbaugh is wrong and needs to fall on 87 swords in front of the NCAA as penance.
August 15th, 2023 at 4:46 PM ^
UM fans and Mgoblog posters are a tricky bunch. While nobody says boo about a MSU fan making the tunnel beating justifiable on their boards I find myself arguing over the stupidest shit here. There is a real push sometimes to make sure we dont bring any fandom to the blog. The NCAA seems fair? UM wasnt the best basketball team at the end of the 1989 season? Mike Hart isnt an elite coach?
That being said I think we finally ran that scoundrel off the board. He is deep on some Bama board where he belongs.
Good times.
August 15th, 2023 at 2:24 PM ^
I can't believe I am saying this and accept any down votes I'll get, but right now part of me wants to rehire Dave Branding as AD for ten minutes (and not one second more) so he could get on a mic and publicly tell the NCAA to go eat ass, since that's like the one thing he did get right.
August 15th, 2023 at 4:47 PM ^
Before one can eat ass they need to be overtaking ass.
August 15th, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^
These NCAA guys are all invited to my house for Thanksgiving dinner this year.
August 15th, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^
My gut reaction to this whole mess is that the NCAA, in a Stalinistic manner, is insisting that Harbaugh admit guilt and he refuses for the reason that he firmly believes he has no guilt.
August 15th, 2023 at 4:11 PM ^
My working assumption is someone within the athletic department paid for that meal, which is why there is a receipt. It may be Harbaugh's card, but he didn't use it.
Someone could admit they took it and used it. Or someone could admit they let someone who shouldn't be using it use it. But if neither of those are going to happen, Harbaugh is the only one left to take the blame, and he ain't havin' it.
August 15th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
The recruits involved told the story about the meal, and Harbaugh was there. The burgers were comp'd, and he paid the tip using his AD credit card.
There's no question that he shouldn't have had contact with recruits, even committed recruits who came to campus on their own, but he [probably wanted to reward them for their zeal and take them for lunch to a classic AA eatery. He probably knew, then or afterwards, that hid actions constituted a Level 2 violation, but couldn't bring himself to blow off these guys after they'd taken the trouble to come on their own initiative.
August 15th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
I wonder if we're already seeing the impact of this with the decommitment of Elias Rudolph and now the news (ON3 predictions made from some Kentucky insiders) of the Smith twins possibly flipping. It's obviously hard to know if this is truly playing a role or if this is just the nature of the beast in the modern NIL landscape. That said, it is interesting to see recruiting momentum screech to a halt right as this stuff started picking up steam again (we also have lost out on a number of other big names in recent months). You know it is absolutely being used as a negative recruiting tool... Really unfortunate if this is the case..
August 15th, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^
If I were to place a wager on the recruiting items you shared - I'd bet on NIL.
August 15th, 2023 at 3:18 PM ^
Rudolph I agree, but Kentucky doesn't have the money cannons that Miami has, and the timing is suspect. Could be nothing and I could be paranoid... but the timing stinks.
August 15th, 2023 at 3:03 PM ^
I find it highly unlikely that any recruit is going to decline coming here based on the fact that Jim might be suspended for a few games next year.
August 15th, 2023 at 3:16 PM ^
From what has been insinuated by people surrounding Michigan's program, it sounds like opposing coaches are completely ruthless when it comes to negative recruiting. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they were planting seeds of doubt in kids' heads that, if this issue drags on, there's a chance Harbaugh won't be coaching Michigan next season. heck, I even think that seed of doubt is planted in some fan's heads. If that's the case, and two schools are super close, I could see this sort of negative recruiting being impactful in the decision making process.
August 15th, 2023 at 4:11 PM ^
Playing footsie with the NFL the last few years has a much larger effect.