The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1511544
DECEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 29 route to State College, Pa. — for the rest of the regular season. That would include three games — Penn State, at Maryland Nov. 18 and then against Ohio State in Ann Arbor Nov. 25. The Big Ten found Michigan was in violation of the Big Ten's sportsmanship policy for "conducting an impermissible, in-person scouting op- eration over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that com- promised the integrity of competition." In the letter sent to Michigan athletics director Warde Man- uel, the Big Ten indi- cated it didn't want to punish the players. They chose to go af- ter Harbaugh given that he is the public face of the program. "This is not a sanc- tion of Coach Harbaugh," the conference said in its report. "It is a sanction against the University that, under the extraor- dinary circumstance presented by this offensive conduct, best fits the violation." Michigan immediately responded by filing a motion for a temporary restrain- ing order, noting that like the other con- ference teams they were "entitled to a fair, deliberate, and thoughtful process to determine the full set of facts before a judgment is rendered," Ono wrote in a statement. "Today's action by Commis- sioner Tony Petitti disregards the Con- ference's own handbook, violates basic tenets of due process, and sets an unten- able precedent of assessing penalties be- fore an investigation has been completed. We are dismayed at the Commissioner's rush to judgment when there is an ongo- ing NCAA investigation — one in which we are fully cooperating. "… Doing so on Veteran's Day — a court holiday — to try to thwart the Uni- versity from seeking immediate judicial relief is hardly a profile in impartiality. To ensure fairness in the process, we in- tend to seek a court order, together with Coach Harbaugh, preventing this disci- plinary action from taking effect." Manuel took it even further in his own statement, calling it "unethical." "I want to make it clear at the outset of this statement that no one at the Univer- sity of Michigan is happy to hear of the allegations and preliminary evidence that has come forth about in-person scout- ing and sign stealing by a member of our football program," Manuel said. "No one. We, like every institution in this country, preach and educate all of our student-ath- letes, coaches, and staff, to adhere to rules and ask questions if something is unclear. "However, no one here, and no one at other universities around this coun- try, wants to be convicted and penalized without due process of a complete inves- tigation and with significant harm to our student-athletes. This is a fundamental principle of our justice, NCAA and, until yesterday, our conference systems. Sadly, that is not what happened yesterday." Some have suggested this will cause "irreparable harm" to the relationship between Michigan and the Big Ten. Man- uel seemed to confirm it wasn't ideal. "Yesterday, under the guise of the NCAA Rule regarding Head Coach Responsibility the Big Ten decided to penalize Coach Harbaugh without knowing all the facts, and I find that completely unethical, insulting to a well-established process within the NCAA, and an assault on the rights of everyone [especially in the Big Ten] to be judged by a fair and complete investiga- tion," he added. "Not liking someone or another university or believing without any evidence that they knew or saying someone should have known without an investigation is not grounds to remove someone from their position before the NCAA process has reached a conclu- sion through a full NCAA investigative process." He stands firmly behind Harbaugh, he concluded. "You may have re- moved him from our sidelines today, but Jim Harbaugh is our head football coach. We look forward to defending Jim's right to coach our football team at the hearing on Friday," he said. "He has instilled his pride, passion, and the team's belief in themselves to achieve greatness. I will continue to support Jim throughout this process, my coaches and staff, and es- pecially our student-athletes as we con- tinue to play this game and fight to win for Michigan and all who love us." Manuel hoped to have his coach back for the remainder of the season and be- yond based on the evidence provided, a contract extension still in the works. And while the final chapter might not be written for a while, it's clear as of now that he and the administration have the coach's back. ❏ Allegations Haven't Affected Michigan's Standing With CFP Committee Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel is on the College Football Playoff committee that de- termines the weekly votes for the select four, but CFP executive director Bill Hancock said after the Wolverines showed up No. 3 in the initial rankings that had no bearing on the vote. Nor did allegations of illegal on-site scouting leading to sign stealing, he added. "It just wasn't an issue," Hancock said on a teleconference following the initial rankings release Oct. 31. "Warde brought credibility when he came to the committee, and he still had it and still has it, and he was fully engaged today. It's just not an issue here." As such, the group had no problem ranking Michigan No. 3. "Michigan has played well all season," Hancock said. "The fact of the matter is no one knows what happened. We're dealing right now — the NCAA is dealing right now — with allegations only. The committee makes its judgments based on what happened on the field, and clearly Michigan has been a dominant team. "You have to remember that these are allegations at this point and not facts, and so there's no sub- stantive evidence that anything happened that might have affected the game. All this committee does is evaluate what happens on the field during games. That's why we are where we are." The CFP rankings remained the same through Nov. 7, when the committee had Ohio State No. 1, Georgia No. 2, Michigan No. 3, and Florida State No. 4, the same as it was initially. — Chris Balas ❱ U-M Director of Athletics Warde Manuel, to the Big Ten commissioner "You may have removed him from our sidelines today, but Jim Harbaugh is our head football coach. We look forward to defending Jim's right to coach our football team at the hearing on Friday [Nov. 17]."