Former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and current AD Warde Manuel were added to a lawsuit against former assistant coach Matt Weiss and the university that accuses Weiss of hacking into computer accounts of college athletes across the country to look for intimate photos.
Attorneys now allege that Harbaugh and Manuel knew that Weiss was viewing private information in December 2022 but was still allowed to be on the sideline as co-offensive coordinator in the team’s College Football Playoff game against TCU on Dec. 31.
“The university’s delay in taking meaningful protective action until after a high-stakes game sends a clear message: Student welfare was secondary,” said Parker Stinar, an attorney in a class-action lawsuit arising from a criminal investigation of Weiss.
The lawsuit says that a staff member witnessed Weiss viewing private information around Dec. 21, 2022, and reported it before the playoff game, but Weiss was still allowed to coach in that game. He was fired a few weeks later in January 2023 during an investigation into the report.
The lawsuit says that Weiss was able to gain access to social media accounts, email and cloud storage of more than 2,000 college athletes as well as more than 1,300 alumni or students across the country with women being his primary target.
“Had Harbaugh implemented basic oversight of his staff, plaintiffs and the class would have been protected against predators such as Weiss,” the lawsuit says.
