Former Michigan football and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has effectively been banned from college athletics for the next four years, and the coach finally commented on the NCAA ruling that came down this week.
During a Chargers training camp press conference, Harbaugh was asked about the NCAA's punishment for recruiting violations.
“I'm stopping the engagement there with commenting,” Harbaugh said (h/t ESPN). “But my only hope is that one day college athletics will be about what's best for young men and young women who participate in it. That's really all I've got to say about it.”
Harbaugh, who had been suspended by the school for the first three games of Michigan's 2023 season in a self-imposed penalty as a result of recruiting violations, was then suspended by the Big Ten by for three games late in the season. The second suspension came amid a sign-stealing scandal in which Connor Stalions, a Michigan staffer, purportedly stole signs from numerous opposing teams over the course of several seasons.
Fortunately for Harbaugh and the Wolverines, neither suspension or the drama around the season could stop them. Michigan defeated rival Ohio State and won the Big Ten for a third consecutive year before outlasting Alabama in overtime of the College Football Playoff semifinal and then defeating Washington to win the program's first national championship in nearly 30 years.
After the season, Harbaugh, who had flirted with the idea of leaving college football to return to the NFL for several years, elected to do so by signing with the Los Angeles Chargers on a reported five-year, $80 million contract. Harbaugh had previously coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, during which time the team won nearly 70% of their games, reached the NFC Championship Game three times, and lost in the Super Bowl to the Baltimore Ravens (who were and still are coached by Jim's brother John Harbaugh).
Due to the NCAA's punishment, Harbaugh would be barred from returning to college football anytime before August 2028, although things would have to go very wrong for he and the Chargers if Harbaugh's looking for a new job within four years.
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