Updated with Saturday’s news of Harbaugh’s absence at Michigan-Penn State.
In one of college football’s more memorable Friday news dumps, the Big Ten suspended Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh from being on the sideline for games through the end of the regular season as punishment for Michigan’s in-person scouting and sign-stealing scandal. Harbaugh’s attempt to receive a temporary restraining order before Saturday’s Michigan-Penn State kickoff was unsuccessful, the university confirmed, and Harbaugh is not in attendance.
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The Athletic’s Big Ten beat reporters, Audrey Snyder, Scott Dochterman, Mitch Sherman, Cameron Teague Robinson and Jesse Temple, weigh in from around the conference.
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What was it like in State College Friday?
Audrey Snyder, Penn State beat reporter: The scene in Happy Valley was memorable. Before Michigan’s plane touched down at State College Regional Airport on Friday afternoon — around the same time news of Jim Harbaugh’s Big Ten-sanctioned suspension became public — hotel workers across State College worked to keep onlookers out of the Wolverines’ hotel.
At the hotel that’s serving as Michigan’s headquarters on the road, signage was hung all throughout the building encouraging visitors and golfers on the adjacent golf course to stay away. Room keys were laid out for the players and staff while maize and blue banners were plastered throughout the hotel denoting the team’s various meeting rooms. A makeshift training room was constructed off of the lobby and it was clear: Michigan was arriving momentarily and would be taking over the entire hotel.
Everyone else was asked to leave the premises and stay away before Harbaugh and his players would arrive.
The space that Harbaugh will likely be spending a little extra time in this weekend has scenic views of Happy Valley and even a large telescope in the lobby. It’s one of the nicer options in the area, and it’s not too far from Beaver Stadium. Michigan players arrived in Happy Valley with lots of extra eyeballs on them, boarding buses at the airport where several reporters were awaiting their arrival.
There were plenty of gawkers as they rode from the airport, past Beaver Stadium and toward the hotel. Traffic was at a standstill as everyone tried to catch a glimpse of the head coach who was on one of the many buses with the tinted windows with the University of Michigan name plastered on it.
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We’ll see how Saturday morning plays out before kickoff. A Michigan coach told our Bruce Feldman that amid news of Harbaugh’s suspension, the team is “Laser focused.”
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How have Big Ten schools reacted to the news?
Mitch Sherman, Nebraska beat reporter: At Nebraska, coach Matt Rhule, when asked early this week about developments at Michigan, felt the need to defend his players. Michigan beat the Huskers 45-7 on Sept. 30 in Lincoln, an embarrassing defeat that sparked an unusual full-contact Sunday practice on Oct. 1.
Rhule said he’s looking for fairness when his players take the field. Players in Lincoln heard the words last week, Rhule said, of Purdue coach Ryan Walters, who pointed to video evidence that circulated online as proof that the Wolverines cheated, and they looked to the first-year Nebraska coach for his response.
So Rhule responded. “I do feel like I need to say something on their behalf.” Rhule, without mentioning the Michigan coach, expressed some thinly veiled doubt on the claims that Harbaugh could have operated in the dark about a signal-stealing scheme.
“There’s not a coaching analyst on our staff that doesn’t travel with us and have a job,” Rhule said. “I’m trying very hard here … I’m only speaking for our team. I don’t ever want to cast shade on other people or their teams. I’ve been that guy, when the whole world is taking shots at you.”
Rhule said Nebraska owns its loss against Michigan. He did not suggest that any compromised signals changed the outcome of that game.
“I’m not saying that,” the coach said. “What I’m saying is I just want the 60 minutes of the game fair. And if we have a game and it’s a big game and we have recruits from all over the country come in and the game gets ugly quickly… those kids look at me.”
Michigan led 28-0 at halftime against Nebraska.
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Scott Dochterman, Iowa beat reporter: Among the most aggrieved institutions related to Michigan’s alleged signal-stealing scheme is Iowa, which twice would have been victimized by the Wolverines’ actions. The first time came in the 2021 Big Ten championship game. According to one Iowa source, a Big Ten head coach called an assistant around 3:30 p.m. the day of the title game and said, “Michigan has got all of your signals.”
The Big Ten head coach apologized for not informing the Iowa assistant sooner but had found out only that day. It was too late for Iowa to change its signals, and it might not have mattered anyway in a 42-3 Michigan victory.
In 2022, it mattered quite a bit. Michigan hadn’t won at Kinnick Stadium since 2005. It was tightly contested in a 27-14 Wolverines’ win. The Hawkeyes mounted very little offense against the Michigan defense, which was nothing unusual. But perhaps the Wolverines gained advantage on a play or two on each drive. Either way, Michigan was the better team that day.
Still, there has been little said by Iowa officials throughout this situation. In private conversations, Iowa coaches knew it was going on but weren’t sure they could stop it. In a text, one assistant wrote, “Yes, it was well known. Nothing is going to happen. Low level guy will take the fall.”
This week, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz just shrugged it off. Neither Ferentz nor interim athletics director Beth Goetz participated in Big Ten conference calls a week ago — Ferentz blew it off to prepare for a game against Northwestern while Goetz was in a Presidential Committee on Athletics meeting.
“I don’t have a lot of comment,” Ferentz said Tuesday. “I read one article. I look at the headlines occasionally. I read one last night where they were fixated on who might have turned whom in, which I think is just like a such a statement on where we’re at right now just in general. Like, it doesn’t matter who turned whom in. If something’s wrong, the issue is the issue, not all this other stuff. I found that kind of interesting.”
Snyder: James Franklin didn’t want to get into questions all week. Even during his radio show Thursday night a fan asked him about it and Franklin said he was going to do everything in his power to change the subject. He playfully asked how the person takes their coffee.
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However, Franklin did say that Penn State has more than 700 signals on offense, and to change them at this point in the season, he’d be worried about players mixing them up and creating missed assignments. Last month, when the subject of signal stealing was first broached, Franklin said that the staff always reviews how they’re disguising their signals. He said then that Penn State had “made some changes” to the offensive and defensive signals, but wouldn’t directly pin the changes on Michigan.
“For us, that’s something that we always are looking at,” Franklin said on Oct. 24. “But obviously, with some of the things that are going on right now, it magnifies it.”
Penn State even appeared to have a little fun with it when defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, appearing in a video the team posted on X after practice this week, tapped his wrist, ear and held up three fingers before saying, “those are the signals for get there early, be loud — especially on third down.”
Surely the word choice was not a coincidence.
Be Early. ⌚️
Be Loud. 👂
Especially on 3rd Down. 👌
(& every down)#WeAre pic.twitter.com/u6VvwoNoHp
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 9, 2023
Even Franklin might’ve lobbed a subtle jab on Monday at his news conference when he was asked about Harbaugh and whether he expected him to coach on Saturday: “I’m focused on all the stuff I see on film. … Their plays, scheme, all that stuff. When I say see on film, see on the coaches’ copy of the film. The stuff going on between the sidelines, the 53 and a third, that’s what we’re focused on.”
The coaches’ copy, indeed.
Jesse Temple, Wisconsin beat reporter: What’s happening at Michigan hasn’t been a big topic at Wisconsin, as the Badgers are operating under a new coaching staff and the Wolverines are not on the schedule this season. The last time the two teams met was in 2021, when Michigan scored 25 unanswered second-half points to win 38-17. Wisconsin had won the previous two matchups by a combined score of 84-25 in 2019 and 2020.
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First-year Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who calls in plays from the sideline by himself, said his signals come with a built-in defensive mechanism to manage potential attempts to steal.
“We’ve never had a problem with it before, so we’re not worried about it now,” Longo said. “We discuss it any week we feel like that issue comes up. Obviously, we’re not going to go out there and do something we think’s going to hurt our football team. So you take whatever measures you have to.”
Cameron Teague Robinson, Ohio State beat reporter: It’s been radio silence at Ohio State, at least publicly.
There’s been a lot of talk about the level Ryan Day’s involvement in the investigation. Naturally, he’s been asked plenty of questions about everything, and has declined comment nearly every time he’s been asked.
He did comment on Wednesday, though. When asked if he, or anybody on this staff, shared Michigan’s signs with Purdue in last year’s Big Ten Championship Game — a result that would have directly impacted Ohio State — Day said that didn’t happen, but did not give specifics.
“I can tell you this right now, nobody here did any of that. We went through and made sure we asked all the questions, got our compliance people involved and none of that came back at all,” he said. “I can answer very strongly that that did not happen.”
He was asked a follow-up question about when Ohio State looked into the claims and Day said, “I’m not going to comment anymore on it.” That’s been it from Ohio State.
The Buckeyes had beaten Michigan eight consecutive times before losing in 2021 and 2022. Whether sign-stealing was enough to make a 15-point difference in 2021 and 22 points in 2022, we don’t know. But Ohio State isn’t going to comment on anything related to Michigan right now. By all accounts, it’s focused on beating Michigan State and Minnesota so it can go to Michigan undefeated. Because in the grand scheme of things, whether Michigan stole signs or not in the last two years, if Ohio State doesn’t beat them this year, nothing they say on the topic matters.
Are you surprised by the Big Ten’s punishment?
Sherman: Not really. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti had enough evidence to act. The league did not need to implicate Harbaugh directly to punish the football program. It’s not difficult to decipher. Harbaugh’s in charge, so he takes the hit. Michigan is fortunate, in my opinion, that the Big Ten will allow Harbaugh to coach in the conference championship game — if the Wolverines get there — and, if it wins in Indianapolis, in the College Football Playoff.
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In fact, the punishment could have been worse. I expect that his suspension will have a minimal impact on the games ahead. It covers three important days. He can coach the Wolverines Sunday through Friday and prepare them for the big games ahead. The decision Friday will energize Michigan players. They’ll feel a weight lifted to move on from the past several weeks of uncertainty.
If Harbaugh had been ordered to stay away from his players during preparation for Maryland and Ohio State, this punishment would have packed much more of a punch.
Dochterman: I am a little surprised. Petitti has dealt with some major situations during his six months with the Big Ten, but this is the one that could have the longest-reaching ramifications. You’re talking about the league’s two-time defending champion with a great opportunity at a third consecutive Playoff berth. Michigan has a legitimate shot at winning the CFP, which the Big Ten has not claimed since the inaugural 2014 season. It takes guts to make this decision the day before a top-10 showdown with Penn State.
Throughout this ordeal, I wondered how the Big Ten would punish Michigan without altering its chances at a league or national title. I figured the decision would come out next week for one game so it would constitute a punishment but prevent Harbaugh from missing the Ohio State game. It looks like Petitti opted for a decision with teeth. This outcome will follow him throughout his tenure.
Teague Robinson: Not really on the punishment. The timing? Yes. To me, it doesn’t matter if Harbaugh knew or not, as the Big Ten said it couldn’t prove he did. He’s the head coach, the face of the program; Harbaugh is paid to know what’s going on. The punishment is going to fall on him.
I did not think the Big Ten was going to drop it the night before a top-10 game at Penn State, though. Once Harbaugh got on the plane I thought he was in the clear. I didn’t think Petitti would want that to be what everybody was talking about leading into the noon kickoff, but he didn’t seem to care. It would’ve been easy to kick the can down the road to next week and suspend him for two games.
We’ll see how it impacts the team on Saturday. I don’t think it’s going to do much, though. He’s still allowed to coach the entire week leading up to the games and Michigan already has experience playing without its head coach this season.
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Temple: It certainly seemed like a matter of time until the Big Ten did something here as calls for punishment continued to mount. How can an “organized, extensive, years-long in-person advance scouting scheme,” as Petitti put in his 13-page letter to school officials, not be known by the head coach? Even if you give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt, he’s the guy in charge of the program.
The fact that this marks Harbaugh’s second three-game suspension in the same season is wild. Michigan enters a massive game against Penn State undefeated, but even if the Wolverines win, this is a story that isn’t going away anytime soon. It seems hard to believe that Harbaugh could survive at Michigan past this season given everything that has happened.
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Any other thoughts on the many other storylines here?
Dochterman: With Michigan now seeking a temporary restraining order, it could set up a showdown in court to push the suspension into next season or delay it to where it impacts either the Big Ten championship game against a West Division opponent or a non-CFP bowl game. Either way, it’s yet another black eye for the Big Ten, which has dealt with significant off-field issues at Northwestern and Michigan State within the last four months.
Teague Robinson: I’m thinking strictly from an Ohio State beat reporter perspective: This makes the race for the Big Ten East even more intriguing. If Penn State beats a Harbaugh-less Michigan on Saturday, then the conversation of a potential three-way tie breaker comes right back into play.
If Michigan beats Penn State, we get another edition of The Game to likely determine the division, and that brings a wealth of storylines. Does Ohio State win and prove it was just the sign-stealing that got Michigan over the losing streak? Or does Michigan show it doesn’t need the signs? And for Day, is there more pressure to win now that Harbaugh can’t coach during the game?
I think there’s going to be a lot of people saying that if Harbaugh is sitting at home and there’s no threat of sign-stealing, Day has to win this game. I’m not sure I completely agree with that, but this is the time to turn the tides of the rivalry. The Game always provides storylines; this year, there will be plenty to pick from.
Snyder: One point Franklin has made a few times in the last few weeks is that he doesn’t believe having the quarterback and Mike linebacker wearing communication technology in their helmets like in the NFL will solve signal-stealing.
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“The issue is, in the NFL they huddle so the quarterback can just tell everybody the play,” Franklin said Thursday. “The other aspect in college is yeah, you can put the headset into the quarterback’s helmet, but then you’re going to have to huddle every play because you still gotta get the play communicated to the receivers. Like most things, it’s a little bit more complicated than how I think some people are explaining it in the media.”
Further reading
(Top photo of Michigan vs. Purdue: Steven King / Icon Sportswire via Getty)
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