Harbaugh and Michigan have reason to worry about allegations
Why the Michigan Notice of Allegations is a bigger deal than you think
The University of Michigan football program and Head coach Jim Harbaugh have received a notice of allegations from the NCAA, per Yahoo! Sports's Dan Wetzel. According to Wetzel, the sport's governing body is placing the program under investigation for five charges.
A notice of allegations is not something to sneer at, yet most people aren't worried about the allegations. While most of the charges, four of the five, being Level II charges in a post-NIL world, perhaps there is little reason to be worried. However, a looming Level I charge lobbied against Harbaugh is something that can drastically alter the college football landscape.
This Level I charge represents the stiffest charge that the NCAA can place on a coach, which comes from Harbaugh “misleading NCAA investigators” during their earlier investigation into the other two charges.
One thing to consider here is that the NCAA has historically sent its harshest punishments down on programs rather than coaches. Here, Michigan misses the dreaded lack of institutional control that has sunk many a program, including the SMU death penalty. In fact, the university shouldn’t face much more than a slap on the wrist. It’s Harbaugh that has to worry.
In order to assess the fallout of these potential sanctions, we have to turn back the clock. Let’s head all the way back to 2010 in the last place Michigan fans want to be: Columbus, Ohio.
On December 22, 2010, a major pre-NIL scandal rocked the college football landscape. In preparation for the upcoming Sugar Bowl against Arkansas, the Ohio State Buckeyes were suddenly under investigation by the NCAA for impermissible benefits. It was later determined that five Buckeye stars were given free tattoos and sold some of their unique memorabilia for thousands of dollars. Those players were all given five-game suspensions for the beginning of the 2011 season and forced to pay back the money they received for their memorabilia, including signed jerseys, championship rings, and “Golden Pants” trophies received for beating Michigan.
More related to our case here, though, is the fact that Ohio State’s coach, Jim Tressel, hid these benefits from the NCAA. He received a two-game suspension for failing to disclose the allegations to the NCAA - something that is required by coaches and administrators in the NCAA’s bylaws. On May 30, 2011, the national-championship winning, sweater vest wearing icon of Ohio “stepped down” as Ohio State’s head coach, in what would be his last coaching stop.
The parallels between Tressel and Harbaugh are easy to see. They’re on opposite sides of the sports premier rivalry. Both are known as among the best coaches in the nation. Both have had massive success in the past, with Tressel hoisting the crystal ball and Harbaugh posting two consecutive College Football Playoff appearances. Both have revived their programs from a down era and brought their teams to sustained success. Both lied to the NCAA in relation to violations.
Tressel may be the first name that comes to mind, but we can rewind even more to see an even closer parallel. Let’s backtrack more, all the way back to 2006 in sunny Los Angeles, California.
Here, we have a program that has built one of the greatest dynasties to date in the sport. A program that has as much star power as any in the nation. A program that has won two of the last three national championships. A program that came out on the short end of the greatest college football game ever played. In April 2006, the NCAA started its investigation into the USC Trojans.
For four years, the Trojans and head coach Pete Carroll were under investigation for various charges. In 2010, just before Ohio State’s scandal broke, the NCAA charged USC with the dreaded lack of institutional control. The chief charge was against running back Reggie Bush, who accepted payments while playing at Southern California. It was heavily implied that the entire team may have received impermissible payments from the various celebrities Carroll brought into the program.
Before the sanctions dropped, though, Carroll bolted for Seattle. No, not the University of Washington. The NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. See, Carroll had an NFL past, spending three years as an NFL head coach and eight as an NFL assistant. Four years after the investigation began, with only months until the sanctions were handed down, Carroll accepted an NFL position with the Seahawks. To this day, he says the job change was in no way related to the coming hammer drop against his program. But, the coincidence is something to look at.
It’s important to consider context. Carroll and USC faced much harsher penalties than Harbaugh and Michigan are under investigation for. However, Carroll himself wasn’t named in the NCAA’s report on their USC investigation. Harbaugh is directly under the NCAA’s microscope. He is the subject of investigation more so than the program.
Now, considering both Tressel and Carroll’s paths, we can see how major coaches are not immune to NCAA investigations. They may step aside or take a new job, but it’s the NCAA that’s pulling those strings. So, what does Harbaugh do in the face of this notice of allegations?
With the NFL’s Black Monday underway, Harbaugh is once again flirting with the NFL. This is something that Michigan fans have to accept. The man is going to look at the NFL because he still has unfinished business there. He didn’t win the Super Bowl with the 49ers. His brother is one of the league’s best coaches. Jim Harbaugh has proved he can win in the college ranks, but what about the NFL?
The NCAA certainly has bearing on this situation. Harbaugh may have been searching for the right NFL job, but is this the prod he needs? Is now the time to make a jump? Reports say he’s interviewed for both the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos jobs, and now that Arizona is open, he might look there.
But, what does this all mean for Michigan? In terms of the program’s sanctions, there isn’t a lot there. Losing Harbaugh, though, could be catastrophic. The college football coaching carousel is already closed for business. Can they lure away a star coach? If so, who? Presumed top target Luke Fickell is entrenched in Madison, Wisconsin with a massive deal. Recently fired Kliff Kingsbury doesn’t seem like a great fit, even though he has FBS experience at Texas Tech. They could try to pry away a major coach a la USC stealing Lincoln Riley and LSU’s coup of Brian Kelly, but there’s not many candidates that match the ability of Harbaugh.
I think this is the year Harbaugh jumps to the NFL, but we’ll see. If money is a major bearing, then the Waltons and the Broncos certainly have enough to draw him away from Ann Arbor. The Colts, where Harbaugh played for three seasons, could also be appealing enough to make him jump. Michigan and their boosters will put up a fight, but we’ll see if it’s enough.