Never bored around these parts. Never.
Let me share the timeline with you on the current "NCAA allegations" breaking news.
- Yesterday morning, I read on John U Bacon's blog about Harbaugh and the latest on his NFL flirtation. He mentions a minor NCAA violation 2 years ago that could have made Harbaugh frustrated with College Football as a whole.
- Then yesterday afternoon, that news continued to leak out.
- Last night, it seems Michigan has received a draft of the violations, which includes 4 Level II violations (minor) and 1 Level I violation for Harbaugh misleading or lying to NCAA Investigators. The "report" of the violations is: too many coaches coaching, contact with 2 recruits during COVID, and watching a video feed of player workouts.
The best line I read was when the NCAA came to interview Jimmy, he grabbed Corum and JJ and said, "talk to them". 😀
Let's get a couple things straight off the bat.
- This information is just "sourced" at this point. We should wait for U of M to release what it actually says.
- Lying, misleading, or not cooperating with the investigation is not a great look for Harbaugh. If he did that, then he should get some type of punishment.
- The NCAA is pretty close to an empty organization at this point. NIL is out of control and they're focused on this stuff. Which happened 2 years ago and probably will take another 2 years to adjudicate.
Let's give a couple examples of other programs that got their hands slapped or will:
- ASU under Herm Edwards hosted as many as 30 recruits during the COVID shut down. He was fired during the season, not because of allegations, but because his teams were terrible.
- FBI has recorded conversations that Kansas Basketball was paying recruits (before NIL) and Bill Self got 1 game.
- Please don't use examples like SMU or even Tressel at Ohio State. This is a completely different time and the NCAA has limited power if any at this point.
The actual level II allegations are minor, which leads me to wonder, why would Harbaugh lie about these things? Harbaugh has a huge staff of former coaches, yes they are going to coach the players. I know there are rules about doing it off field vs. on field and that Michigan needed a special waiver to have Fred Jackson step in when Mike Hart had his medical situation this year. I also see Fred on the sideline of games, is he there just to be a spectator?
I don't know the background with the kids and COVID. I do know Matt Dudek was fired from his recruiting role at Michigan and strangely enough was also let go after Mississippi State's Bowl game this past week.
Let's just try to take a breather here and wait for Warde to come out with what is actually happening. If I'm Harbaugh, I do look at the NFL at this point and consider doing a Pete Carroll. As I'm sure his take will be, "The NCAA wants to penalize me for providing kids coaching resources and speaking to kids during an un-precedented time in our country".
I'm also interested in the timing of this, a week after Michigan is eliminated from the CFP. Would they have released the same information if Michigan had a game on Monday?
- Anthony has gotten offers from Oklahoma, Pitt, and Miami already. I think he might be familiar with Miami's OC.
- Ronnie Bell is heading to the NFL (not new news but he made it official on Thursday).
- Todd Blackledge is leaving ESPN for NBC to lead their Big Ten Coverage.
15 comments:
NCAA is a joke. Who cares. Just say what you gotta say to please them and get on with business as usual. You got schools having sex parties for recruits with coaches, bag men delivering unsolicited cash to recruits, players not attending classes for years, and the NCAA is going to crack down on this?
The real question is how did the NCAA learn of this and who was the rat(s) that tipped them off?
Kinda of sad that money flies around "like hot cakes on a grill", and NCAA is nit-picking some very minor items. But if Jimmy raised those violations to level I on his
own accord, then he is out of Wack. Jesus is not strictly for Michigan and you have to play by the rules ...maybe he is taking care of too many ill-legit children to address the Level II complaints righteously. Jimmy should hire "the Righteous Brothers" to represent him, but "oops" one has died so that won't work. Jesus saves but Harbaugh violates rules because he is above the law! Amen!
Great write-up Bob .. Thanks
Brady yes the NCAA is a joke! We currently have multiple college infractions that are basically ignored by the NCAA, such as schools out there contacting other players and offering them hundreds of thousands of dollars to transfer to their school without any repercussions. Yet 2 years later they set their sights on Michigan for some mis-information given concerning a dead period Zoom call ... Wow!
The NCAA has become a Joke!
Jim has honesty issues. He one of those guys that thinks he's the smartest guy in the room and thinks he can baffle you with bullshit and talk his way out of stuff. So instead of just owning it, and Michigan getting some slap on the wrist, now he's facing suspensions. He's his own worst enemy!
Blue,
I read on another site that the level II violations where self reported by Michigan. IF that's the case, wtf would Jim lie about them. Just own them and move on. Most of these type of violations are self sanctioned like cutting practice short for 5 mins / day or something silly like that. NCAA is a joke and its all for show, all they ask is that the programs and the coaches go along with the charade. But once again, Jim's hubris wouldn't allow him to do so and now he's going to pay the price, or leave to the NFL.
I think Ward Manual and Jim Harbaugh should address the issue as soon as possible, make a public statement as soon as possible
Chowman .. No one will argue that Jim comes across a bit quirky, especially towards the media, which I can understand, but I do disagree about him having honesty issues, I believe he's a forthright person, backed up by the people that are close, along with the players on his team.
As far as what Jim did wrong in deserving a level 1 violation ... This from Chris Balas ... "the reason Jim got a Level One, apparently, is because two committed recruits stopped by during COVID for an impromptu visit and he took them to the Brown Jug for a Jug burger in the morning. They found a receipt, but I guess he wasn't completely honest about it."
If this is true I would hope Warde has the balls in opposing this NCAA level 1 decision.
Can't really blame Jim if he wants to leave, not having to deal with this NCAA bullshit while there are so many more obvious infractions that the NCAA doesn't even touch.
Blue,
he's not honest when it comes to football: better? he plays games all the time. Not going to play the semantics game about it was a little lie or it was a harmless lie. He lied! so if the info you posted is true, this is how it most likely went down: "Jim, did you take two recruits to the Brown Jug for a burger during the no contact period in recruiting?" No! "Jim, we have the receipt and witnesses that saw you in the Brown Jug with the 2 recruits!" Never happened! Lying to an investigator or impeding an investigation is a level I. All he had to say was "look, they stopped by unannounced, and I know I shouldn't of took them out for a burger, but I felt bad, when I told them we really can't talk right now". My bad, was trying to be a good guy and not get an upper hand in their recruitment. I know it looks bad and I'm willing to face the consequences. You can't lie to the investigators. That's like a HUGE no no. The NCAA would of settle for self sanctions on all the level II stuff they always do!
and Blue: Jim's the first person to call out opposing coaches out when he thinks they've crossed the line. What's the quote about stones and glass houses????? There are coaches all over the NCAA that are having a good chuckle right now.
Just another yearly Harbaugh soap opera. When will it end?
Chowman, you’re as sharp as a bowling ball. You’re throwing the stones without any facts. As quirky and goofy as Harbaugh can be, he’s always been honest. Media gives him questions and he doesn’t give them straight answers but he doesn’t lie to them. Example is when he gets asked about player injuries, he’s not going to give them the answer they want. But that doesn’t make him a liar. What this does do however is verify what he’s complained about several times and that is that the ncaa is broken. Horribly broken. They administer Justice based on who they like and don’t like and Jimmy has never been well liked. Suckeyes on the other hand have paid brothers and barely get a hand slap. This says more about the ncaa than it does about Harbaugh. And while not excusing it; I would wager that 99% of the D1 programs committed some sort of violation during covid.
Hello!! Hahahaha....
The word on the street is that the NCAA is literally corrupt. Does that surprise anyone? Plus, there's no other entity holding the NCAA accountable, and there's no competing interest of which they would have to be concerned. It's like the Federal Reserve bank, they can print their own money and no one can say or do anything about it. Things have got to change in the governing of college sports. IMHO!!!
Ok guys. It's really not this hard. NCAA has NO desire to penalize BIG programs, i.e. Bama, Georgia, OSU, and yes Michigan. Why? They are cash cows! Those programs make the NCAA lot and lots of MONEY! If you're Whats-a-matter U, you're getting the book throw at you. Most of the time level II violations are self sanctioned for elite programs as long as you go along. Go along to get along! The school comes up with their own punishment. It's a wink-wink thing. Jim decided he didn't want to look bad? Why? Who's the 1st guy to point out things that other programs do? Everybody knows, everybody pushes the limit. If you're not, you're not trying to win! Again, Jim decided he didn't want to look bad. He tries to come off as the Pius one, and he got caught with his hands in the cookie jar and a mouthful of Oreos. He's the one that turned a mole hill into a mountain. But just like Jim, there are all of you fans that want to play the victim. If the NCAA was so hell bent to screw Michigan why did they wait till after the TCU game?????? I'll even double down, if Michigan had won, and was playing on Monday night, you wouldn't of heard this after the CFP final. Just like why Michigan and the athletic department kept the Mazi Smith thing quiet until after the OSU game. It's how big time college football works. It's a sham, its a game, but its a billion dollar one! And for everyone of you that thinks Jim is getting railroaded, would you feel the same way if this was happening to Ryan Day? Mel Tucker? James Franklin? Kirby Smart? Nick Saban? Anyone that says yes, you're not being honest, primarily with yourselves!
and Rudy, he's quirky, but he's also evasive. Evasive or lying, its really just semantics. When you're evasive while being investigated for a violation it typically doesn't end well. In Jim's case it earned him a level I! Ever been pulled over by a cop? I have, had a lead foot when I was young, still do. The evasive thing? Effed me every time, but when I was forthright and admitted what I did, not saying it got me out of every ticket, but it got me out of a few. It was a NOTHING violation in the eyes of the NCAA. Sure, they talk big, but the punishment the schools face are very minor. Jim just had to cop to it and say I won't do it again.
Oh, and see how I responded to you without a personal attack on your character. That's how civil discourse works. We can disagree, but we don't have to result to name calling and personal attacks!
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