Michigan's Jim Harbaugh was threatened with suspension by NCAA last fall for lawyer's social media criticism. <CBS Sports article by Dodd>
In a "letter of admonition" to attorney Thomas Mars obtained by CBS Sports, current NCAA Committee on Infractions chair Dave Roberts wrote in October 2023 that if Mars didn't halt his posts criticizing the NCAA's investigative process "the COI will consider appropriate penalties, including immediate suspension of your client."
The letter ends with seemingly a final warning from Roberts that read, "There will not be any further admonitions …"
I found the fact that the NCAA released their statement and punishment of Michigan over some essentially meaningless infractions today on the very day the portal opens up to be another petty shot by a flailing organization against its favorite whipping boy - A whipping boy that just so happens to hold the largest crown under their organization’s purview. It’s amazing when the NCAA behaves like a sparty or buckeye troll, and yet we continue to wear the crown. 🏈🤴🏿
April 17th, 2024 at 10:09 AM ^
I do not think Burgergate is over for Harbaugh or Mars. The NCAA press release specifically says "One former coach did not participate in the agreement, and that portion of the case will be considered separately by the Committee on Infractions, after which the committee will release its full decision." The implication seems to be that Harbaugh is continuing to fight.
April 17th, 2024 at 10:46 AM ^
It's over in the sense that it has no impact on him. Why even waste time talking to the NCAA? They're irrelevant to him.
But considering Mars's statement, it seems that Mars/Harbaugh are still concerned with the outcome, so in that sense it's not over.
But I was actually responding to NitFan saying that Mars/Harbaugh should not drag out the burgergate fight and should bring it to full closure (or ignore it) for the sake of Michigan.
April 17th, 2024 at 11:24 AM ^
Mars said he filled a long brief with the NCAA on behalf of Harbaugh and they NEVER responded.
Mars also said one of the NCAAs demands was for years of Harbaugh’s personal texts. Mars rightly advised his client he didn’t need to respond. Mars had compared the demand to what a DA office or law enforcement can do under the law and called the NCAA’s demand outrageous.
Mars’ statement about hearing the bus tires go thud thud thud (or something like that) was him saying that Warde basically backed the bus up and drove it over Harbaugh in order to settle with the NCAA.
In other words, Burgergate is over for Mars and Harbaugh. The COI, and it’s leader who works for USC and who has publicly stated he’s still upset at what the NCAA did to USC, can make whatever threats and public announcements they want but Harbaugh doesn’t and shouldn’t care.
I'll take 'What is a Lawyer' for $100, Alex...
April 17th, 2024 at 12:25 PM ^
Hard to see outside your own bias, but I'm very frustrated.
I feel the NCAA took some minor violations and held them over us for a long ass time as a petty vindictive thing with Harbaugh. I don't want to admit guilt, even if the punishment is 1 cent, because it validates the NCAA behavior.
I'm willing to accept some degree of punishment on the Stalions thing, because while I think it was limited to Stalions, and wildly overblown, something that shouldn't have happened happened.
But this one feels surreal to me. OSU spends 15 million in free agency and gets nothing but praise, and we've got this nonsense hung around our neck.
April 16th, 2024 at 11:31 PM ^
Nobody can ever take away 2024 from Michigan football. The documentaries and movies about this team and this past 3 year run under Harbaugh will be epic.
The greatest FU to the NCAA and their chosen allies and winners (OSU, SEC) imaginable.
They literally needed one team to NOT win it all and did everything in their power to bring down UM (because of what Harbaugh says and represents) and they failed.
Stalions crap was random bs they could find at any program…be it scouting, pay for play, ped’s, etc. The hit job failed. The program Harbaugh and Herbert built was too strong - physically and mentally.
Just glorious how it all blew up in the face of the ncaa and B1G power brokers.
Go Blue
The ‘hit job’ wasn’t a complete failure. Apart from forcing Michigan fans from enduring dump trucks of made-up manure from rival fans, they did encourage Jim to pull the trigger on going back to the NFL. I remain convinced that getting Jim to move on from the College Experience was the primary objective. Nothing else explains the obsessive persecution by the NCAA and B1G. Fuck ‘em all.
The only additional reason for the NCAA’s obsessive persecution of Michigan is because there is ample evidence that Michigan has poor leadership from the Regents to the AD. They are the only institution standing that will bend over to the NCAA without a fight. Warde is a feckless leader who any coach in the AD should hate to report to.
April 17th, 2024 at 10:08 AM ^
Who knows what would have happened with Harbaugh. I remain convinced that if Warde wasn't a spineless POS, stood up for his HC, Harbaugh may have stayed. But all of that's conjecture other than the "spineless POS" part.
For me, I am very happy with how the rival BS turned out. Like, this literally could not have been any sweeter because of what we had to endure as a fanbase. Running the table during the meat of the schedule, beating Bama, and winning it all provided full exoneration against any hot takes.
I have purchased way more championship swag than is reasonable for a man my age. Every time I see someone look sideways at me, like they want to talk shit, I just get the biggest grin.
Tl;dr - Bet
April 16th, 2024 at 11:38 PM ^
Every time I think I can't hate the NCAA more, they find a way.
You nailed it! I detest that organization more every time it moves.
April 16th, 2024 at 11:43 PM ^
I mean…are any of us surprised? To me, (please correct me if I’m wrong) everything seems to be swept under the rug now?
It sure feels like Harbs is being the sacrificial lamb for the powers at be.
Fuck that, where is the leaders and best? Asides from the fan base, why is it so fucking hard to believe in Harbs and take his side? Tom Mars being silenced, Harbs has not been allowed to say anything? The guy who changed the trajectory and history of college football at UM and he gets this? Harbs has been done absolutely wrong and I hope we keep seeing the truth come out. Big fuck you to the weasels at NCAA.
Seems like The Board of Regents, Santa, and Warde just completely gave up. They were going to fight and do the TRO and abruptly stopped and now they are just the NCAA's whipping boy.
I think Santa is going to prove out to be a fantastic university president who provided unmatched support to athletics compared to his predecessors. However, when his tenure at Michigan is over, I think he will likely regret the way this entire incident was and continues to be handled.
As much as people call Harbaugh a loose cannon, he's actually shown a lot of discretion in his public statements, choosing to take the high road for the most part. We can't say the same for the NCAA.
This is a text book example of how to start a thread:
- A clear title, explaining exactly what the topic is - no ambiguity.
- A body that includes a detailed elaboration of the title - the key points.
- A clickable link
- A couple emojis
Bravo 👏
The link doesn't work for me. Is it just me? All I get is a Cover 3 podcast video with no sound. I had to search for the Dodd article separately to find it.
An out of touch establishment being vindictive and petty to a person who calls out their bullshit. Seems common these days.
Petty and insecure move by the NCAA. Par for the course.
Fart noise
So no comments allowed from Mars, JH, or MI, on any investigations but the rest of the B10 can have their own PIs investigate and publicly demand the B10 suspends Harbaugh (all before any facts came out). Cool, cool.
And don't forget it's ok for the NCAA to publicly comment on cases where they haven't even made formal charges against the school, while prohibiting the accused institution from making any comments. The definition of hypocricy.
Not just publicly comment - the NCAA told all the other B1G schools about the 'investigation' that had just started and allowed them to get to work penalizing and publicly condemning Michigan for something not yet investigated.
This is the treatment that Warde, Santa, and the BoR authorized and condoned by dropping the lawsuits.
And if we don’t fight the sign gate situation the ncaa is gonna take a sling blade to our dry keister. The punishment from this is pretty over the top considering the offense. Does anyone here actually believe that less will happen over a story that was on every major network, blog and any asshole with a computer was typing the word “historic” to describe?
If we set back and get steamrolled, we could be facing unfathomable penalties. I hope I’m wrong, but don’t think so.
Poor NCAA had its feelings hurt when a lawyer criticized how it was doing its job, so it threatened his client. Nice coercive move. Maybe look in the mirror and improve your performance instead?
What is the L1 violation? Is it for “non-cooperation”.. or not being as forthcoming as the NCAA would like?
From the article - the NCAA asked for Harbaugh’s phone. Harbaugh / Mars said - here’s the phone - but, we’ll limit your access to the (approximately) 6,200 football related messages and emails. The NCAA said “No - we need access to everything - even non-football related content.” It seems like Mars / Harbaugh did not approve of the NCAA looking through everything. So, is this denial of access the L1?
The one point associated with this that I found interesting was - a subpoena in a court of law - which requested “everything” - would have been denied. So, the NCAA seeks more authority than the US Legal system - without any controls or limitations.
"So, the NCAA seeks more authority than the US Legal system - without any controls or limitations."
Not seeks. Has.
Because the MEMBER schools decided by a vote that they would subject themselves to that.
Your point is both accurate and fair. The NCAA’s selective enforcement approach is also something that members need to deal with.
I find the inequity frustrating. This situation is one item; however, the NCAA decision about where and how schools could conduct, host, and participate in camps for high schoolers is something I’ll never forget.
April 17th, 2024 at 10:07 AM ^
"The NCAA’s selective enforcement approach is also something that members need to deal with."
No, it isn't. They CAN just continue doing what they've done.
April 17th, 2024 at 10:45 AM ^
Roger Goodell has been in an advisory capacity, allegedly.
Edit-Oops, can't talk about it.
It's Petitti all over again. People who suck at leadership and who are completely threatened by someone who demonstrates genuine leadership. Instead of taking the high road or making the right (sometimes unpopular in the media) decisions they stoop to petty, childish acts in an abuse of power. Just a bunch of scared, infantile puppets.
I believe the definition of the NCAA needs to be modified to your description.
So, the NCAA was threatening further, unwarranted sanctions directed towards Harbaugh because their investigation was openly criticized by his representation? What a loser organization indeed.
If this stuff doesn't sum up what an inept, corrupt and self-serving institution the NCAA is, I don't know what would.
Just keeps going to show that the NCAA can (and will) only punish schools that ALLOW IT to happen.
I know a lot of us think the NCAA is incompetent. I don't think they are. At least not as much as they are made out to be. What they are is a schoolyard bully that a lot of kids are starting to learn how to stand up to. But a school like Michigan hasn't. Michigan is the one kid in the yard that either can't fight back, can't defend itself, or chooses not to. That makes you daily fresh meat.
I don't advocate going and looking for trouble, but until something changes where you decide its time to stand up and defend yourself, the bully is going to keep coming back to you, time and time again, demanding your lunch money, your shoes, the answers to tonight's math homework. Tomorrow he's going to want your bike, your backpack, and your Nintendo Switch.
Until you give them a reason to stop bullying you, they are not going to stop. So at this point, if Michigan can't defend itself from the NCAA or worse, chooses not to, then frankly it deserves the treatment it gets.
April 17th, 2024 at 10:25 AM ^
Co-signed x 1000.
We see this exactly the same way, Michigan is treated unfairly because we've chosen to allow it. And as long as we allow it, it will continue unabated.
FWIW my prediction is when sign-gate if adjudicated at some point they will use the fact that we are on probation and have multiple level one violations as the fodder for a punishment that far exceeds the crime (if there actually WAS a crime that is). I think the NCAA is playing the long game here, giving us a slap on the wrist for burger-gate that sets up whatever they want to do later.
They hate Harbaugh and they know institutionally we are weak, ineffectual pussies scared of conflict and authority. So like your bully analogy they are going to keep coming back for more.
April 17th, 2024 at 12:18 PM ^
That is my concern as well. Stupid, silly penalties have been levied for stupid, silly allegations, but going on probation when the NCAA clearly has it in for Michigan is dicey. We run a relatively clean program (at least in comparison to our peers), but being monitored by an organization with lots of power and no scruples is not a good feeling. I would hope that we would come at them with both barrels if they tried to stack punishments, and I would hope that our lawyers would be smart enough to have the probation only apply to future claims not know as of this time, but I have absolutely ZERO faith in Warde to do anything that involves being proactive. How did we end up with such a boot-licking buffoon in charge?
April 17th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
I honestly didn't even think about that. Michigan is on three years probation, so is the NCAA going to use this probation period as an excuse to come back with Sign-Gate and say "you broke probation, now you're f****d"?
I honestly wouldn't put it past the NCAA to, like you said, be playing the long game here. Put down a slap on the wrist for Burger-Gate, but set up the chess board so that when it comes time for Sign-Gate, it allows them to come down with the punishment they really want. So then they can have their 50 lbs of flesh and say they still matter because they took down big, bad Michigan.
And honestly, even independent of the NCAA, what's stopping the rest of the Big Ten over this remaining three year period from collaborating again and saying "Okay guys, we've got three years. Time to put our heads together and see whatever other dirt we can dig up!" You really think MSU and OSU won't be using this time to find whatever else they can?
They've done it before, and that was when Michigan was in the midst of a title run that dropping them out of could've lost the conference a lot of money. There is nothing to dissuade them from doing it again.
The NCAA’s fuckery knows no bounds.
Even more reasons for Harbaugh to bounce to the NFL
Turned out well for everyone. Michigan has our three year fairy tale and the Natty-that-will-never-go-away. Harbaugh gets to leave much the way he arrived, but now amplified, as an all-time legend and absolute weirdo who loves football and loves Michigan. And we get our coach who might be a lifer.
Perfect
Enlighten me. What could the ncaa do to Harbaugh?
April 17th, 2024 at 11:14 AM ^
The chance that the NCAA could, might be or willing to suspend Jim for an entire season IMO.
The NCAA is the most low T organization on the planet. The way they overcompensate for their lack of virility with over the top letters is pretty amazing.
That Cookie Monster meme he tweeted is quite funny, IMO
April 17th, 2024 at 10:39 AM ^
Well clearly the SEC and the B10 were cooperating more than we knew and drawing a roadmap for their lackeys to administer. Isn't that nice.
April 17th, 2024 at 10:39 AM ^
This NCAA response seems aimed at assuaging the ego of its own lack of authority, a useless threat meant to prevent ridicule of its ability to lead only by opaque assertion of its right to punish offenders it deems fit to punish. There is no moral high ground here.
This is an ugly empty threat, a gesture that once exercised leaves this toothless enforcer no place to rest comfortably. Only an institution cowers to this challenge, not a coach who is too well known, too quirky and too beyond NCAA redemption who had already been punished for a crime never prosecuted before sentence was passed. What else could it do to stem the tide of embarrassment except promise more threatened punishment, for what exactly, some alleged bad hearing behavior?
Top of the world Ma! That isJimmy Cagney's death knell challenge to authority in the gangster classic White Heat. And that is Jimmy Harbaugh, no longer under the thumb of the NCAA, telling the committee of infractions.
April 17th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
I am not convinced tom mars is a very good attorney.
April 17th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
The NCAA is a horrible organization. For many reasons.
With how they were set up relative to the institutions they are supposed to serve this is basically all they could do.
Choosing to do it is the really stupid, petty, insecure part. No action would have been the better choice.
April 17th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
Jim had three good reasons for leaving Michigan to the NFL. Not in any order, the lack of total support from Warde , the NCAA suspension risk (very high chance) and his itch to return to the NFL.
April 17th, 2024 at 11:33 AM ^
Did Davey get his feewings hurt and write a nasty poo poo letter to the mean lawyer man?