NCAA punishes Harbaugh for ‘unethical conduct’

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The NCAA announced a four-year show-cause order for former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday for impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively banning him from college athletics until August 2028.

The NCAA said Harbaugh, who left his alma mater to coach the Los Angeles Chargers after last season’s national championship, “engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations.”

The NCAA had already put Michigan on three years of probation along with a fine and recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in the case. Harbaugh did not go along with the agreement, disputing allegations he failed to cooperate with investigators, so his case was handled separately.

“The panel noted that Harbaugh’s intentional disregard for NCAA legislation and unethical conduct amplified the severity of the case and prompted the panel to classify Harbaugh’s case as Level I-Aggravated, with penalties to include a four-year show-cause order. Subsumed in the show-cause order is a one-season suspension for Harbaugh,” the NCAA said.

The recruiting case is separate from the NCAA’s investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign stealing allegations that roiled Michigan’s championship season in 2023 and resulted in a three-game suspension of Harbaugh by the Big Ten Conference.

A show-cause penalty means a school wanting to hire a coach serving that penalty must appear before the NCAA committee on infractions to explain why it wants to do so. The NCAA’s order for Harbaugh started Wednesday and runs through Aug. 6, 2028. It requires a school wanting to hire Harbaugh to suspend him for the first full season. After that, Harbaugh would still be barred from athletics-related activities, including team travel, practice, video study, recruiting and team meetings, until the order expires.

The Chargers were scheduled to practice Wednesday, but Harbaugh is not slated to speak with reporters until Thursday.

Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, has said the coach was not invited to participate in the settlement process or aware that an agreement had been reached between the school and the NCAA. He blasted the NCAA’s punishment.

“The way I see it, from Coach Harbaugh’s perspective, today’s [Committee on Infractions] decision is like being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you’ve been suspended because you didn’t sign your yearbook,” Mars posted on social media. “If I were in Coach Harbaugh’s shoes and had an $80 million contract as head coach of the Chargers, I wouldn’t pay any attention to the findings of a kangaroo court which claims to represent the principles of the nation’s most flagrant, repeat violator of the federal antitrust laws.”

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel noted the school has already accepted the sanctions and served many of the penalties.

“Our staff has worked to improve processes and we are focused on the future and our commitment to integrity and compliance,” Manuel said.

The sign-stealing case is still open and could take months to resolve. Multiple infractions cases in such a short time period could prompt the NCAA to treat Michigan as a repeat offender, opening the school up to harsher penalties in the sign-stealing case.

“It probably just matters more in terms of how the committee (on infractions) interprets the entire case and whether they’re giving the institution the benefit of the doubt in some areas,” said Jay Ezelle, an attorney based in Birmingham, Alabama, who has handled NCAA cases.

New Michigan coach Sherrone Moore is facing allegations he violated NCAA rules related to the investigation into scouting and sign-stealing, according to a draft of the NCAA’s notice of allegations obtained Sunday by ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel.

Moore has been accused of deleting text message exchanges with Connor Stalions — the former low-level recruiting staffer who coordinated an off-campus, advance-scouting operation — around the time the investigation was opened.

According to the draft, the NCAA has recommended a less serious Level 2 violation for Moore and alleged that messages between Moore and Stalions were recovered and that the coach provided them to the NCAA.

Moore, 38, was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach when Harbaugh bolted to lead the Chargers, making his return to the NFL after a successful run with the San Francisco 49ers. Moore filled in as acting head coach four times last season while Harbaugh served suspensions, winning all four games, including the season finale against rival Ohio State.

In-person scouting is banned by the NCAA, which investigated Michigan’s alleged system to determine how organized it was and who knew about it. Stalions, who has not cooperated with the NCAA in its investigation, will break his silence Aug. 27 on Netflix when the documentary “Sign Stealer” makes its debut on the streaming service.

“I do not apologize,” Harbaugh said Monday when asked about the NCAA’s sign-stealing notice to the Wolverines. “I did not participate. I was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations.”

The NCAA noted that Harbaugh could not recall meeting with recruits despite confirmation from at least one of his own staff members and the prospects’ families. One recruit specifically remembered the coach “ordered a hamburger for breakfast, which ‘kind of stood out’ to him.” Other NCAA evidence included a text message from Harbaugh to a recruit.

“Given the significant amount of reasonable, credible information in the record, Harbaugh’s denials are not credible,” the NCAA said.

Harbaugh’s punishment and news about the sign-stealing scandal all come with Michigan ramping up to the defend its national title. The Wolverines open the season at home against Fresno State on Aug. 31.

“Once you’re at the top, things like that happen,” Michigan defensive back Quinten Johnson said a few hours before the announcement of penalties against Harbaugh. “That’s not really a concern right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.