NCAA hands Michigan probation, recruiting penalties for football violations

April 16 (UPI) -- The Michigan Wolverines were placed on probation for three years, penalized with a fine and given recruiting restrictions for violations from within their football program, the NCAA announced Tuesday.

The penalties are the result of a settlement struck between the NCAA, Michigan and "five individuals who currently or previously worked" within the football program before former coach Jim Harbaugh left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers.

The violations include impermissible in-person recruiting contacts during a COVID-19 dead period, impermissible tryouts and on- and off-field coaching activities.

"The negotiated resolution also involved the school's agreement that the underlying violations demonstrated a head coach responsibility violation and the former football head coach failed to meet his responsibility to cooperate with the investigation," the NCAA said.

"The school also agreed that it failed to deter and detect the impermissible recruiting contacts and did not ensure that the football program adhered to rules for non-coaching staff members."

The committee on infractions said the part of the case that involves Harbaugh will be considered separately. A full decision will be made once that is resolved.