The NCAA announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Michigan and five current or former staffers on several recruiting violations and coaching activites by noncoaching staff members, with the penalties including three years of probation, a fine and recruiting restrictions. The five coaches involved in the agreement also agreed to one-year show cause orders.
The agreed-upon violations involve “impermissible in-person recruiting contacts during a COVID-19 dead period, impermissible tryouts, and the program exceeding the number of allowed countable coaches when noncoaching staff members engaged in on- and off-field coaching activities,” according to the NCAA. As part of the resolution, Michigan agreed that the violations demonstrated a head coach responsibility violation and that the former head coach – Jim Harbaugh, who is not directly named in the announcement – failed to meet his responsibility by cooperating with the investigation.
The NCAA’s agreement was with five current or former staffers, but it said one former coach – presumed to be Harbaugh – did not participate in the agreement, and that portion of the case will be considered separately, with the final decision, potential violations and penalties for the former coach all pending. The NCAA said that by separating the cases, it allows the five current or former staff members that agreed to the resolution to begin immeidately serving their penalties.
These cases are entirely separate from the NCAA’s ongoing investigation into Michigan for allegedly breaking rules surrounding the in-person scouting of future opponents, with no timetable established for when the NCAA may include that investigation.
