Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh raises the trophy after the Wolverines defeated the Washington Huskies 34-13 in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston on Jan. 8 and ended the season with a 15-0 record. File Photo by Kevin M. Cox/UPI |
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Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The NCAA sanctioned former University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh with a one-year suspension and a four-year show-cause order for alleged unethical conduct and non-compliance in 2021.
The NCAA announced the sanctions Wednesday and will enforce the one-year suspension if Harbaugh leaves his current position as head coach of the NFL Los Angeles Chargers and returns to the college ranks at any time during the show-cause period that runs from Wednesday through Aug. 6, 2028.
The NCAA released its 48-page regarding the matter on Wednesday and said Harbaugh's conduct is the only reason for the sanctions.
The athletic association said Harbaugh and other University of Michigan football staff allowed non-coaching staff members to participate in coaching activities in 2021.
The NCAA accused Harbaugh of misleading its investigators who were looking into the matter by "changing his story"regarding whether or not he met with two non-coaching personnel in 2021.
The NCAA initially accused Harbaugh of a Level II violation of engaging in recruiting against NCAA ruled during the COVID-19 "dead period"in 2021.
Because he changed his story during the investigation into potential recruiting violations, the NCAA charged him with a Level I sanction, which is the NCAA's most serious level of violation.
Harbaugh's attorney Tom Mars dismissed the NCAA sanction while accusing the organization of being a repeat offender of federal anti-trust laws.
The NCAA's sanction "is like being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you've been suspended because you didn't sign the yearbook," Mars said in a post on X.
"If I were in coach Harbaugh's shows and had an $80million contract as head coach of the Chargers, I wouldn't pay any attention to the finding of a kangaroo court which claims to represent the principles of the nation's most flagrant, repeat violator of federal antitrust laws," he added.
Harbaugh coached the Michigan Wolverines football team for nine seasons and led it to the 2023 national championship with an undefeated season.
Harbaugh also played quarterback for Michigan from1983 to 1986 before entering the NFL draft and playing professional football from 1987 through 2000.
The university and five football staff members in April paid a $5,000 fine and were placed on a three-year probation with recruiting restrictions for impermissible tryouts and on- and off-field coaching activities in 2021.
