As more time passes, all parties involved in the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal seem to be getting only more and more heated. And why on earth would we expect any different? We're talking about a large group of players and coaches and administrators who are insanely passionate, hyper-competitive and devoted to their school, so in a situation like this, why wouldn't we anticipate that the competitive juices would overflow?

What's flowing out of Warde Manuel, athletic director at the University of Michigan, is something entirely different than “competitive juices” … in a statement in response to the Big Ten's decision to suspend Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season, Warde Manuel offered a venomous retort that put the Big Ten on blast.

You can read the statement in its entirety courtesy of Pete Thamel of ESPN. Within the statement, Warde Manuel calls it “insulting” and “unethical” that the Big Ten would suspend Jim Harbaugh before the NCAA had reached a conclusion of their investigation, while also lacking evidence that Harbaugh had any knowledge of Connor Stalions' sign-stealing scheme. In addition to calling out the Big Ten, Manuel takes shots at the other coaches and AD's in the Big Ten as well.

“All of the Head Coaches in the Big Ten (some who have been accused of actively participating in the trading of signals of opponents) and my Big Ten AD colleagues can rejoice today that someone was ‘held accountable,' but they should be worried about the new standard of judgment (without complete investigation) that has been unleashed in this conference.”

Now whether or not you believe Jim Harbaugh had any prior knowledge of what Stalions was doing is neither here nor there. What matters for the time being is that Warde Manuel is technically correct. There has yet to be any tangible evidence presented linking Harbaugh to the scandal, and until that time comes, one would've assumed that Harbaugh would be able to remain on the Wolverines sideline.