Michigan football will welcome former head coach Jim Harbaugh back to The Big House for the team's season opener later this month. Harbaugh recently received NCAA sanctions that make it difficult for him to coach again in college football. However, that won't stop him from making an appearance with the team later this month.
Michigan's athletic director Warde Manuel revealed this week that Harbaugh will return via the 1 Star Recruits podcast. Manuel said that Harbaugh will serve as an honorary captain or the Wolverines' August 31st game against Fresno State.
Michigan football's team spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed this plan to MLive on Friday. He also added that players from last season's national championship team have also been invited to attend the Fresno State game.
Jim Harbaugh left Michigan football earlier this year to return to the NFL, where he will coach the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I look forward to seeing him,” Manuel said on the podcast. “He’ll be an honorary captain for our first game. I look forward to having him back in Ann Arbor for that game.”
Former Michigan Football coach Jim Harbaugh finally breaks silence on NCAA penalties
Former Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has finally spoken about his NCAA violations.
“I'm stopping the engagement there with commenting,” Harbaugh said via 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.”
According to the NCAA, Harbaugh “engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations.” They claim that Harbaugh denied his involvement in the violations even though the record “overwhelmingly” supports the allegations.
The penalties against Harbaugh include a four-year show-cause order, which in effect bans him from college athletics until August 2028.
The show-cause order means that any school that wants to hire Harbaugh must appear before the NCAA committee on infractions to explain why they want to do so.
“During the show-cause order, Harbaugh would be barred from all athletically related activities, including team travel, practice, video study, recruiting and team meetings, at any NCAA school that employed him,” the NCAA said. “Additionally, if hired during the show-cause order, Harbaugh would be suspended for 100 percent of the first season of employment. The results of those contests during Harbaugh's suspension would not count toward his career coaching record.”
It will be interesting to see if Harbaugh ever does decide to go back to the NCAA as a football coach.
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