The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL "It's good to see, but at the end of the day, camp is offense versus defense, day by day, who's going to win, who's not going to win? I would say they won yesterday, which is good to see for when we go and put the pads on against somebody else." In an interview Aug. 9, senior edge TJ Guy had a similar review. "They're clicking," Guy said of the unit that has just one returning starter, junior tight end Colston Loveland. "The offense, the last couple practices, they've been starting to click, and it's looked really good. It's just a bunch of guys stepping up into new roles. Every- body is getting comfortable." Asked what specifically has im- pressed him, Guy explained that the group is looking like it has in the past. "The chemistry among the O-line," he said. "The run game is looking like a Michigan run game. The play action, all the motions, everything that we do is starting to look like us. And it's good to see them growing." — Clayton Sayfie U-M RECEIVES NCAA NOTICE OF ALLEGATIONS Former Michigan head coach Jim Har- baugh has moved on from U-M to the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers, but if he does somehow try to return to the col- lege game anytime soon, he'll be facing punishment from the NCAA. His "lack of cooperation" with an investigation into illegal contact with recruits during a dead period that involved buying ham- burgers at a local restaurant drew him a Level 1 violation and four-year show cause from the NCAA's Division I Com- mittee on Infractions. It ruled the former Michigan coach "violated recruiting and inducement rules, engaged in unethi- cal conduct, failed to promote an atmo- sphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations, result- ing in a four-year show-cause order." Harbaugh was hit with a Level I (most serious) violation for his "unethical conduct and failure to cooperate with the membership's infractions process — specifically, his provision of false or misleading information." The show cause order begins Aug. 7, 2024, and runs through Aug. 6, 2028. If he's hired by an NCAA institution while the show cause is in effect, he would be suspended for the entirety of the first season of employment. During the show-cause order, Har- baugh would be "barred from athletics- related activities, including team travel, practice, video study and recruiting and team meetings until the order expires." His attorney, Tom Mars, provided a scathing statement in response via X (formerly Twitter). "The way I see it, from Coach Har- baugh's perspective, today's COI deci- sion 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 wrote. "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 prin- ciples of the nation's most flagrant, repeat violator of the federal antitrust laws." There's been no word if Harbaugh will appeal. Meanwhile, sources told The Wolver- ine the NCAA was threatening to "go big" in coming after the program for an alleged sign stealing operation led by former staffer Connor Stalions. They mentioned Michigan was facing a "Level 1 violation charge," according to an NOA [notice of allegations] draft it obtained, due to its "pattern of noncompliance within the football program" and "in- stitutional efforts to hinder or thwart the NCAA's investigation." ESPN confirmed our original report Aug. 4, adding more details. Among them: • The draft, which could be subject to change, states that U-M head coach Sherrone Moore could face a show-cause penalty and possibly a suspension for al- legedly deleting a thread of 52 text mes- sages with former Michigan staffer Con- nor Stalions in October 2023 on the same day that media reports revealed Stalions was leading an effort to capture the play- calling signals of future opponents. • Investigators used ticket informa- tion, film, photographs, and interviews to determine that Stalions had im- permissibly scouted at least 13 future Michigan opponents on at least 58 oc- casions between 2021 and 2023. He di- rected others to scout some opponents multiple times — including one team that they scouted seven different times in 2022, according to the draft. • The investigators also allege that multiple team interns and at least one other full-time team employee knew about the scheme and participated in it. The draft says that Stalions led those individuals to believe that what they were doing was not against the rules. The draft also states the NCAA gath- ered evidence that shows Stalions was on the sideline at Michigan State's season-opening game against Central Michigan in 2023. Though sources informed us the NCAA was talking "postseason ban" as one potential punishment, Michigan would be sure to fight that in litigation that could "take years," per one source. Nobody we've spoken with expects that to happen. Further, sources told us there was nothing damning in Moore's texts with Stalions, something the coach seemed to confirm Aug. 13. "I'll just say this … that I look forward to them being released," Moore said. "… My only statement is we're cooperating with the NCAA fully, have in the past, will in the future. We'll continue to do that. It's an ongoing case, and we need to preserve the confidentiality of the proceedings." — Chris Balas Former U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh, now with the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers, was hit with a Level 1 violation and four-year show cause stemming from the NCAA's "burgergate" investigation. It would only affect him if he returned to coach in the college ranks. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF