As the scandal involving signal-stealing by a low-level staffer continues to unfold, the sports media has been promising potential discipline for the team at some point this week. On Friday afternoon, we finally received news about punishment for the team.
The Big Ten has suspended Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh from the sidelines for the rest of the regular season. Harbaugh will be able to coach the team during practice and be present at other team activities but cannot coach the team during the next three games, including crucial rivalry games against Penn State and Ohio State.
The conference handed down the disciplinary measure because it believed that Michigan violated the Big Ten's sportsmanship policy. The Big Ten also maintains that the punishment is against the university and not personally against Harbaugh.
"As the University is aware, the Sportsmanship Policy expressly provides that a member institution is responsible, and therefore may be held accountable, for the actions of its employees, coaches, student-athletes, general student body, and any other individual or group of individuals over whom it maintains some level of authority," Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti wrote in a 13-page letter to Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel.
Petitti added in the ensuing paragraph that "the extensive information obtained by the Conference has led me, in my capacity as Conference Commissioner, to conclude that the University violated the Sportsmanship Policy."
Related: Things Are Looking Worse for Michigan's Football Program
After the news about potential sanctions against the team came out, Michigan sent a letter to the conference urging the Big Ten to not act hastily since the investigation was ongoing and Connor Stalions, the staffer at the center of the scandal, resigned. The Athletic reports that Michigan may be prepared to kick back against the disciplinary measures:
Sources at Michigan have said the school was prepared to seek a temporary restraining order to keep Harbaugh on the sideline should the Big Ten attempt to levy a suspension.
“(The conference) picked a bad time to do it,” a source briefed on the situation said. “This is not ‘My Cousin Vinny’ over here. Everything is prepared and ready to go.”
ESPN also reports that Michigan is potentially gearing up for a court fight against the suspension. "Michigan sources have indicated for days they have been preparing to legally fight any decision by the Big Ten that involves punitive discipline," write Pete Thamel and Adam Rittenberg.
All signs point to the fact that the NCAA won't complete its investigation before the end of the season, yet rival Big Ten coaches have pressed Petitti to take some kind of action against the Wolverines.
This is Harbaugh's second suspension of the season. He sat out the first three games of the season as part of a self-imposed penalty for recruiting violations. Not having Harbaugh on the sidelines for those games didn't prevent the Wolverines from going 9-0 in the first three-fourths of the season, but those games weren't against opponents like Penn State and Ohio State.
Will the Wolverines maintain their College Football Playoff ranking? All eyes will be on this team as it faces the final stretch of the season without Harbaugh on the sidelines.
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