Did Jim Harbaugh run to Chargers to Avoid Charges?
The Michigan Wolverines football coach fulfilled the manifest destiny that brought him back to his alma mater in 2015. He restored the Wolverines to prominence, and eventually to dominance. He finished with a flourish, defeating Ohio State three years in a row and winning the program’s first undisputed national championship since 1948.
But it’s not quite as simple as all that. Because Harbaugh also is evacuating ahead of more probable NCAA sanctions for alleged violations on his watch. He was suspended for six games this past season, and that might have just been the warmup penalties. Two Michigan infractions cases remain ongoing, with Harbaugh likely to face Level I allegations in both of them.
The best guess is that in Harbaugh’s absence, the hammer instead will fall on Michigan. Maybe a velvet hammer, because NCAA crime and punishment moves in mysterious ways, but don’t expect a wrist slap. The first infractions case, centering on impermissible contact during the COVID-19 dead period, is largely understood and confined. The second case—the great Connor Stalions espionage campaign, guaranteed to be a Netflix miniseries in a few years—remains open-ended and potentially more problematic if staff members beyond Stalions are implicated.
Regardless, the fan base and others will howl about how unfair it is, because Michigan has whined like champions for about a year straight over the ongoing investigations. It has been an Auburn-level bravura performance. Ultimately, though, they will take the trade-off.
