Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines were recently punished for their actions during the 2023-24 season. Photo courtesy of Encyclopædia Britannica.
BROOKS BAKER-WATSON | STAFF REPORTER | bbakerwatson@butler.edu
Overtime, or “OT,” is an opinion column series where the Collegian takes national sports headlines or polarizing topics and gives them a Butler-centric angle.
Last month, the NCAA issued a final ruling regarding the 2023 Michigan sign-stealing scandal that rocked the football world. That ruling left a bad taste in the mouths of many.
On Aug. 15, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions issued a statement saying the University of Michigan will face penalties for multiple NCAA rule violations. These penalties include fines that could exceed $30 million, recruiting restrictions and show-cause orders for former head coach Jim Harbaugh, current head coach Sherrone Moore and former staffers Connor Stalions and Denard Robinson. These penalties are mutually seen as fair by the university and the NCAA.
However, some fans don’t see the same equity in the decision, especially with the choice to just add on more years to Harbaugh’s show-cause order instead of a more universal punishment that can follow him wherever he goes.
One issue these fans have with show-cause orders is that they only affect people within the organization to which they are applied. In this instance, since the NCAA is issuing these, they can only apply within NCAA programs — Divisions I, II and III. This leaves offenders an easy route to escape penalties by simply exiting the organization.
That’s exactly what Harbaugh did. After the 2023-24 season, Harbaugh took the head coaching position with the Los Angeles Chargers, virtually escaping all applicable punishments to his name. A move that many felt was deliberate.
Because of this, some fans have proposed that the NFL take matters into its own hands, pushing for a league-enforced penalty for Harbaugh based on the NCAA’s ruling.
Sophomore music industry major JM Brenner is one of those fans.
“I would say it’s definitely smart for Harbaugh to be punished, rightfully so,“ Brenner said. “The integrity of the game has to be kept, and you can’t just let people get away with it because they’re going to go to a different league.”
Although the NFL does not have any current plans to discipline Harbaugh, the league is no stranger to enacting its own punishments on the NCAA’s behalf, such as with former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel back in 2011.
Tressel was in a similar situation to Harbaugh. He resigned after the 2010-11 season, which was marred by controversy — Tattoogate — and had been hired by the Indianapolis Colts as a member of the team’s consulting staff. But before the season began, the Colts announced a six-game suspension for Tressel due to his actions at Ohio State. This was a suspension that Roger Goodell agreed to, and he even stated that he would have suspended Tressel himself if the Colts did not.
Two coaches, similar controversies, yet completely different reactions from the commissioner. Why would Goodell not stick to the sentiment he relayed all those years ago?
Fans like first-year journalism major William Marrs believe it’s an intentional choice, an attempt by Goodell and the league to avoid upsetting the status quo.
“A situation like this, that is so divided, will hurt the NFL more than anything,” Marrs said. “Honestly, I could have seen [it working] if maybe you [punished them] right away, but they didn’t, so they kind of missed the train.”
During a time when the NFL seems to be hitting new highs each year, the last thing the league needs is a prominent coach being disciplined for actions that many, like Marrs, consider old and not relevant to the current state of the game.
Other fans, such as sophomore sports media major Jackson Roemer, not only believe that the case is too old for anything to be done with it, but that Harbaugh is not at fault for what happened at Michigan.
“If he wants to be a man of his word, then [Goodell] could do the same with Jim Harbaugh,” Roemer said. “What’s been proven is that Connor Stalions was the head of the whole sign-stealing operation…it doesn’t seem like Jim Harbaugh was tied to it as much as people would think he [is].”
Regardless of this situation’s total outcome, the NFL should look into developing a concrete policy aimed at discouraging coaches from using the NFL as a means of escape. There are policies in place of a similar nature for college prospects currently, so it’s only fair for coaches to receive the same treatment.
The NFL and NCAA, with how much they have grown in recent years, can no longer maintain the same level of collaboration that they have currently. That dynamic was ruined when college football essentially became a semi-pro league. Now more than ever, the NFL and NCAA need to work together more closely to avoid missteps such as this one and preserve the honesty in the sport.
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