Jim Harbaugh and Michigan are the targets of a dubious sequence of actions by the NCAA.
The NCAA is still fighting Michigan Football.
The football squad from Michigan has had to cope with noise both during the regular season and the offseason.
A draft of an NCAA Notice of claims was sent to Michigan in January 2023. The university recognised that some Level II claims, such as texting during the COVID-19 recruitment blackout time, had occurred. They admitted that coaches observed workouts via Zoom, and analysts provided on-field guidance.
One day before Big Ten Media Day in July of that year, rumours circulated that Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of Michigan, and the NCAA were attempting to reach an agreement that would likely result in a four-game suspension. But in the end, there was no reconciliation, and Michigan benched Harbaugh for the first three games of the campaign.According to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, the agreement was made “in an attempt to further that process” and was a “way of addressing mistakes.”
It has now been reported that the NCAA has finally given Michigan a Notice of Allegations and is accusing Jim Harbaugh of a Level I violation. This is happening on December 20, which is also the start of the early signing period for the 2024 recruiting class.
It’s crucial to remember that Harbaugh is facing Level I charges because the NCAA feels he misled or lied to investigators. However, Harbaugh “has maintained he didn’t recall the events when first speaking with investigators but that he was never purposely dishonest,” according to a January article from Yahoo!’s Dan Wetzel.
There’s something very fishy and unsettling about the NCAA and their timing. Less than two weeks before Michigan’s Rose Bowl game against Alabama, they release information the day before Big Ten Media Day, again at the start of the early signing period. It’s simple to make the connections and realise how plausible and likely it is that the NCAA wants to harm the programme inadvertently.
If the NCAA had waited to submit the Notice of Allegations until after the season, would the course of the proceedings have been significantly different? No. The NCAA will then have 60 days to reply to Michigan after Michigan has 90 days to react. Put simply, months will pass before a settlement is reached. Rather, on a day when young men signed their letters of intent to play football for the University of Michigan, the NCAA built a name for itself. Student-athletes have always been more concerned with themselves than the NCAA, both financially and emotionally, despite the NCAA’s seeming concern for them.
We are discussing infractions from 2020, and it is currently 2023 and will shortly be 2024. Give that some thought for a moment. The NCAA has flagrantly disregarded its own regulations with regard to this probe, which only serves to heighten the absurdity of the situation.
Since January of last year, the NCAA has shaped the claims, and Jim Harbaugh and Michigan are prohibited from discussing the inquiry that is still underway. This gives the NCAA the power to mould the story and establish perception. We live in a world where that doesn’t seem fair or reasonable.
The Rose Bowl matchup between Michigan and Alabama and the Sugar Bowl matchup between Washington and Texas would make for an exciting College Football Playoff if the NCAA were intelligent, as opposed to the collapsing and decaying organisation that it is. It’s football that we should be discussing, not some tiny, pointless burger from 2020.
