By Austin Meek, Nicole Auerbach, Bruce Feldman, Catherine Briley and Chris Vannini
The Big Ten suspended Jim Harbaugh from being on the sideline for games through the end of the regular season as punishment for Michigan’s in-person scouting and sign-stealing scandal, the conference announced Friday.
Harbaugh will miss games against Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State. He will be allowed to coach during the week at practices and attend other team activities.
The Big Ten said Michigan was found to be in violation of its sportsmanship policy “for conducting an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”
Michigan said Friday it planned to seek a court order to keep Harbaugh on the sidelines. The university filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in Washtenaw County, Mich. If granted, Harbaugh could keep coaching.
In a letter sent to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wrote that Harbaugh was suspended because he “embodies the University for purposes of its football program.” But the conference had not received evidence that Harbaugh was “aware of the impermissible nature of the sign-stealing scheme,” Petitti said, adding that the punishment was “against the university” rather than the coach himself.
The suspension came after a tense week of deliberations between Michigan and the Big Ten.
Michigan’s 10-page response argued against premature action from the Big Ten before the conclusion of an NCAA investigation and claimed the Big Ten lacked the authority to suspend Harbaugh for the actions of staffer Connor Stalions, who resigned last week.
Petitti said in his Friday letter that Michigan in its protests did not “deny that the impermissible scheme occurred” and instead offered “only procedural and technical arguments designed to delay accountability.”
The school said Petitti’s decision “disregards the conference’s own handbook, violates basic tenets of due process, and sets an untenable precedent of assessing penalties before an investigation has been completed.”
The university added that it is “dismayed at the commissioner’s rush to judgment when there is an ongoing NCAA investigation — one in which (it is) fully cooperating” and said Petitti is “reacting to pressure” from other conference members.
The NCAA said Friday its “investigative and infractions processes” around Michigan will continue.
The Big Ten’s policy gives its commissioner power to punish sportsmanship violations, though anything beyond a two-game suspension or a $10,000 fine requires approval from the league’s Joint Group Executive Committee. In his letter Friday, Petitti said he received approval from the committee to discipline Michigan more severely.
The first step in Michigan’s legal fight was filing the motion for a temporary restraining order, said Mit Winter, an attorney at Kennyhertz Perry who specializes in sports law.
“It’s never easy to get a TRO,” said Winter, noting that Michigan could have a “home-court advantage” over the Big Ten if the motion went before a judge in Michigan. “A lot of courts will say it’s like an extraordinary remedy. You have to show that you have a likelihood of success on the merits of whatever your underlying claims are.”
The NCAA is not expected to conclude its investigation into Michigan’s alleged in-person scouting before the end of the season, even though it is working at an accelerated pace. Because of that, coaches and administrators around the Big Ten had urged Petitti to take action against Michigan more quickly based on evidence that Stalions had purchased tickets to games involving Michigan opponents and had acquired video footage of opposing teams’ signals.
Stalions resigned Nov. 3, two weeks after Michigan suspended him with pay. In a statement to The Athletic, Stalions’ attorney, Brad Beckworth, said Stalions had no knowledge of other staff members breaking NCAA rules prohibiting in-person scouting.
Michigan is 9-0 and sits at No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Harbaugh served a three-game school-imposed suspension to start the season in connection with a separate NCAA investigation involving alleged recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period.
What to make of this move by the Big Ten
The framing of Harbaugh’s suspension as a sanction of the University of Michigan’s football program, rather than a punishment of Harbaugh himself, is a clever move by the conference to try and preemptively counter possible legal attacks.
If the Big Ten was punishing Harbaugh, then Harbaugh’s culpability in the scheme of Stalions (who, interestingly, is not referred to by name in the letter) might be framed as a material fact that is under dispute, something that would require a fact-finder’s determination in a court of law (and so slow up the process).
Instead, the conference is relying on pieces of evidence collected from a variety of sources. Some come from the NCAA and other universities in the Big Ten. Some come from publicly available materials including pictures, videos and Venmo receipts. The Big Ten even cited Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, for confirming that Stalions had bought tickets to its conference championship game.
The Big Ten ties many of these elements back to what it refers to as a “Master Spreadsheet” listing out the various games, tickets and attendees that Stalions arranged access to, noting that these items corroborate one another. Pettiti, in the letter, claims that the mass of information led him to determine that the existence of the scheme is “uncontroverted.” Further, the letter confirms that Michigan was aware of pieces of this evidence.
In other words, the conference seems to be trying to lay a firm foundation of fact, and eliminate as many questions as possible — including the question of Harbaugh’s knowledge — in preparation for an impending slog of motion practice. — Catherine Briley, college football editor
What are the possible next steps?
Michigan has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in Michigan state court, specifically the 22nd Circuit Court in Washtenaw County. The assigned judge, Hon. Timothy P. Connors, has presided as a Michigan state court judge since 1991 and in the 22nd Circuit since 1997, having been re-elected five times.
Assuming the TRO is granted, the maximum length of such a restraining order is 14 days from the date of issuance, barring special circumstances. This would mean that should a TRO be issued before Michigan’s matchup with Penn State, the TRO would end either on Nov. 24 or Nov. 25. In other words, even if emergency relief is granted, Harbaugh might still be unavailable for a matchup with Ohio State. — Briley
What are Michigan and Harbaugh arguing?
In order for Michigan and Jim Harbaugh to be granted the temporary restraining order, they are required to demonstrate that immediate and irreparable harm will occur if the court doesn’t, essentially, hit the pause button on the Big Ten’s proposed punishment.
In arguing that irreparable harm is being suffered by the University, the attorneys note not only that the student-athletes of Michigan’s football team would be affected, but that Michigan “prides itself on fairness and integrity,” and that without injunctive relief the University athletics programs will suffer significant injury to its reputation.
Likewise, the brief argues that “no more dramatic blow could be given to [Coach Jim Harbaugh’s] character and reputation that the permanent lifetime label of “missing in action” because of a purported— but still unsubstantiated— cheating scandal.”
Finally, the brief also states that an injunction against the Big Ten is in the public interest, as Michigan is a contender for a national title and “fans have a vested interest in seeing the most deserving team win the title.” — Briley
Does it matter that the judge is a Michigan alumnus?
The assigned judge, Connors, is a 1977 Michigan graduate who claims to have played for the football team. He’s also a lecturer at the U-M law school. That information might set off any conspiracy theorist fans. But it’s worth noting the TRO request was filed in Washtenaw County business court, and Connors is the only assigned business court judge in the county. He got his law degree at Wayne State, where he also serves as an adjunct professor, a position he also has held at Vermont Law School. It’s possible another judge could be assigned because of the emergency nature of the situation, but that’s not clear.
In general, some lawyers feel schools have the home-field advantage when they file in their own backyard, and recent history has sided with schools when matched up in court against their conference. In early 2022, Marshall, Southern Miss and Old Dominion all received TROs in local courts against Conference USA over their attempts to leave the league for the Sun Belt. They were successful in doing so. In September, Oregon State and Washington State received a TRO in WSU’s backyard against the Pac-12 to stop board meetings without court approval. — Chris Vannini, senior CFB writer
Required reading
(Photo: Matt Krohn / USA Today)
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