The NCAA is investigating Michigan for alleged sign stealing. Michigan’s Big Ten partners want the conference to act before the NCAA does. Michigan wants the Big Ten to stand down.
Via Yahoo.com, Michigan sent a 10-page letter to the Big Ten conference on Wednesday night urging Commissioner Tony Petitti to refrain from “premature” disciplinary action against coach Jim Harbaugh. The letter also challenges the quality of the evidence, and it expresses a belief that the conference is in a “rush” to punish Michigan.
Last week, the member schools placed pressure on Petitti to act against Michigan sooner than later, due in part to a belief that the NCAA will take too long to resolve its investigation and impose sanctions.
Michigan’s letter comes at a time when Petitti reportedly is considering a multi-game suspension for Harbaugh.
Michigan also acknowledges that sign-stealing happened, but it blames the entire operation on Connor Stalions, a staffer who resigned (perhaps under threat of termination) last week. Michigan insists there is no evidence other coaches, including Harbaugh, knew what Stalions was doing.
In a separate letter, Harbaugh’s lawyer points out the existence of techniques for studying opponent’s signals that comply with the rules, such as studying game film. The point of this argument is to show that Harbaugh had no reason to think Stalions was obtaining his information by violating NCAA rules against advance scouting.
Through it all, Michigan is arguing for due process, via the NCAA. It wants to persuade the Big Ten to not take matters into its own hands.
The immediate stakes are obvious. Michigan has a team that can compete for a national championship. If Harbaugh is sidelined during crunch time of the schedule, it will be harder to accomplish that.
Petitti is expected to make a decision by the end of the week. Whatever he does, one or more members of his conference won’t be happy. Ultimately, he should forget all of that and do the right thing, whatever the right thing might be.