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The latest chapter of the Connor Stalions sign-stealing saga came to light last night as reports surfaced regarding the Michigan football team and their intention to fight back on the NCAA. The story got people talking about the sign-stealing situation again, and Illinois football head coach Bret Bielema decided to take a shot at former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Paul Finebaum, who has always been a big Harbaugh critic, voiced his support for Bielema on Wednesday.
Bret Bielema has not been afraid to voice his opinions on social media as of late, and on Tuesday night, Jim Harbaugh was his target. Bieleme quoted a video that was posted of Harbaugh when he was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In the video, Harbaugh says “If you cheat to win, then you've already lost.”
“Really…. Why did you leave? Was looking forward to playing but understand why you ran to the #NFL,” Bielema said in response to the video. “See you in the future and can’t wait #famILLy #ILL.”
The NCAA has not found any proof that Harbaugh had any involvement in Connor Stalions' scheme, but Bielema clearly has his own opinion on that. Paul Finebaum agrees with him.
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“I’ve always liked Bret,” Finebaum said on The Paul Finebaum Show Wednesday. “He was fun when we were together. But he is right. Harbaugh is just a disingenuous fraud about all the things he used to say. He didn’t want to face the music. By the way, Michigan didn’t really want him to stay.”
What's interesting is that after the Michigan football team won the national championship last year, Finebaum actually admitted that he was wrong about Harbaugh. When the sign-stealing investigation began, Finebaum said that he would not recognize the national title if Michigan were to win it. After beating #9 Penn State, #2 Ohio State, #18 Iowa, #4 Alabama and #2 Washington, Finebaum realized he was wrong.
“I say, ‘congratulations,’ and (Mike Greenberg), I was cheering for (Harbaugh) last night,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s “Get Up” last year. “I can’t explain it — I’m sure it’s some weird thing from back when I was a baby or something, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been more wrong about anything in my entire life. I didn’t think the guy would ever beat Ohio State — I said it on your show a couple of years ago, if I live to be 150, and I’m getting close. But the point being, this is truly remarkable. And I don’t want to be wrong about something, Greeny, you never want to be wrong. But if you’re going to be epically wrong, out of this constellation, out of this universe wrong, I’ll take it. And I think Jim Harbaugh has silenced all those who doubted him in the early days. I’m not talking about what happened this year, that’s a whole different story, but in the end, he has proven everyone wrong.”
After Michigan beat of all of those ranked teams after everything came to light, a lot of people realized that whatever happened with Connor Stalions clearly wasn't changing much on the field as the Wolverines were able to win all of those games without him. However, Bret Bielema isn't convinced, and Paul (or Pete, as Harbaugh once said) Finebaum's beef with Jim Harbaugh will likely never die.
