More than 2,000 miles away from Schembechler Hall, Jim Harbaugh stood defiant.
“I do not apologize,” the former Michigan football coach huffed earlier this week at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL franchise he now leads.
The emphatic statement followed a question about the recent leak of the NCAA’s draft notice of allegations detailing a slew of major violations he and other staffers were accused of committing in connection with the sign-stealing scandal that engulfed the Wolverines during their run to the national championship last fall.
Harbaugh’s response wasn’t surprising to anyone who has followed him.
But it was shameless, considering that just seconds before, he continued to try to paint himself as some rule-abiding paragon of righteousness.
“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal. I was raised with that lesson,” he told reporters.
Two days later, the NCAA hit Harbaugh with a four-year show-cause order that includes a one-year suspension after completing a different investigation into recruiting transgressions committed by Michigan during the COVID-19 dead period. The Committee on Infractions determined Harbaugh “engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations.”
In the 48-page report, the NCAA portrayed Harbaugh as uncooperative and dishonest after he denied meeting prospects in person despite a mountain of evidence – receipts, expense reports, testimony of the attendees and even his own subordinates – that showed otherwise. Harbaugh’s obstinance during that probe is a big reason why Michigan was forced to resolve the case separately back in the spring, when it agreed to a three-year probation, a fine and recruiting restrictions.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Hail Yes!” your go-to Michigan Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
[3:06 PM] Birkle, Andrew
But instead of being mad at Harbaugh for his clumsy handling of this mess, his pleas of ignorance in the aftermath of the embarrassing Connor Stalions affair or his lack of accountability throughout it all, Michigan continues to pay deference to a man whose naked ambition for championship glory may have resulted in the ultimate destruction of the football program’s holier-than-thou image.
On Friday, news broke that athletic director Warde Manuel said Harbaugh had accepted an invitation to return to campus as an honorary captain for the Wolverines’ Aug. 31 season opener against Fresno State.
“I’m looking forward to having him back here in Ann Arbor for that game,” Harbaugh’s former boss said on the “1 Star Recruits” podcast, released Aug. 7, the same day the NCAA punished the coach.
Only seven months ago, Manuel came under fire from Michigan’s frothing fan base that clamored for him to lock down Harbaugh with a lucrative contract extension, even though it seemed clear the 60-year-old former pro quarterback was eager to return to an NFL sideline and ditch the program he just guided to college football’s summit. Some of the coach’s closest backers took thinly veiled shots at Manuel and made him into a scapegoat on social media once Harbaugh bolted to the Chargers in late January. The posturing from Harbaugh’s camp during that turbulent period came across as particularly disingenuous considering the coach promised Manuel his pursuit of NFL jobs would not be a “reoccurring theme every year” following his failed interview with the Minnesota Vikings in February 2022.
MORE FROM SABIN: Sherrone Moore’s image is tarnished before start of Michigan football head coaching tenure
Harbaugh broke that vow multiple times and two years later abandoned Michigan, leaving his alma mater to deal with the fallout from a pair of NCAA investigations that tarnished the program’s reputation and led skeptics to question the legitimacy of the Wolverines’ accomplishments over the past three seasons.
Based alone on his personal drama with Harbaugh, it’s hard to fathom why Manuel is now planning to roll out the red carpet for the former coach’s ceremonial return instead of exiling him from Schembechler Hall for the foreseeable future. It becomes even more difficult to understand knowing that the NCAA has already turned Harbaugh into a persona non grata in the college football space and is still in the process of adjudicating the sign-stealing case that has left the university reportedly facing a major Level I infraction for a “pattern of noncompliance within the football program.”
Much in the same way that Harbaugh’s unrepentant reaction to the draft notice of allegations was galling, Michigan’s decision to pay tribute to him at this time seems particularly brazen, tone-deaf and arrogant.
Is anyone really surprised though?
After all, this is the same university that objected loudly when the Big Ten sanctioned Michigan last November for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy and suspended Harbaugh the final three games after uncovering evidence of Stalions orchestrating a “years-long” scouting scheme designed to steal opponents’ signs.
The Michigan brass brayed and whined, threatening to take the Big Ten to court and presenting themselves as victims who had been unfairly persecuted. Harbaugh’s stand-in and eventual successor as head coach, Sherrone Moore, bawled on television after a victory at Penn State as he paid homage to his banned boss sequestered miles away in a hotel room.
The tear-jerked, profanity-laced monologue was strange, even outrageous.
But it perfectly captured the essence of Michigan.
This is a program that has repeatedly shown it has no shame. So, now after everything that happened, the so-called leaders and best are preparing to welcome back Jim Harbaugh, the quintessential “Michigan Man” full of hubris who has made it clear he will apologize for absolutely nothing.
Back at a university that has long acted as if it is above reproach, he should feel at home again.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football thumbs nose at NCAA with Jim Harbaugh homecoming
