Jim Harbaugh’s peers want something to be done about him.
Pete Thamel of ESPN.com reports that the “vast majority” of Big Ten coaches urged the conference to take action against Michigan for its sign-stealing operation, during a call on Wednesday with Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh exited the call after roughly 30 minutes. It continued for roughly an hour after that, with the coaches from the conference sounding off on the NCAA’s investigation into the situation.
According to Thamel, the call was “intense and emotional.”
“Collectively, the coaches want the Big Ten to act -- right now,” a source familiar with the call told Thamel. “What are we waiting on? We know what happened.”
The call included an explanation to Pettiti regarding the manner in which the sign-stealing operation worked. Language used during the call included words, per Thamel, like “tainted” and “fraudulent” and “unprecedented.”
It also created a huge edge for Michigan, knowing (for example) what the opposing offense was going to do before it happened.
“People don’t understand the seriousness of it,” an unnamed source told Thamel. “How it truly impacted the game plan. To truly know if it’s a run or a pass, people don’t understand how much of an advantage that was for Michigan.”
The Big Ten, per Thamel, has the power to punish the school and/or its staff under the conference’s sportsmanship policy.
“An unprecedented violation of the rules would require unprecedented action from the Big Ten,” another unnamed source told Thamel.
The whole thing stinks. Harbaugh has said he didn’t know it was happening. Given the evidence that has surfaced in published reports, Harbaugh would have to be Mr. Magoo to not realize what was going on.
That arguably is nearly as bad as knowing about it, given the importance of the job Harbaugh holds.
