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All told, life is pretty good for Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh these days.
Harbaugh is coming off the back of leading the Wolverines to their second consecutive (and second ever) College Football Playoff appearance. And Michigan has two straight victories over vaunted rival Ohio State.
Michigan enters the 2023 college football season as serious contender for a national title and junior quarterback JJ McCarthy is a prime candidate to break out as one of the nation’s top signal callers.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for Harbaugh and the Wolverines.
Harbaugh was hit with a Level I NCAA violation over the offseason after offering impermissible benefits to visiting recruits.
“The reason Jim got a Level One, apparently, is because two committed recruits stopped by during COVID for an impromptu visit and he took them to The Brown Jug for a Jug Burger in the morning,” Chris Balas of On3 Sports said of the violation. ” They found a receipt, but I guess he wasn’t completely honest about it.”
On Tuesday, we learned the fate of the Michigan coach following the violation.
“Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and the NCAA are working toward a negotiated resolution that is expected to see him suspended four games this season in penalties stemming from alleged false statements he originally made to investigators,” Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported.
While a four-game suspension may seem hefty, it’s unlikely to hurt the Wolverines too much.
"Just make it a round seven." https://t.co/CMTPsqpEry pic.twitter.com/1tW2lmNeuJ
— Sean Fitz (@SeanFitzOn3) July 25, 2023
Michigan plays East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green and Rutgers to begin the season and will be a massive favorite against each. Additionally, the suspension has yet to be finalized.
Spectacular work by the athletic director. This is how you draw it up folks https://t.co/n2yBIMib28 pic.twitter.com/n9ctzQHFqf
— Jason Kirk (buy my novel) (@JasonKirk_fyi) July 25, 2023
Nonetheless, fans did not seem to have a ton of sympathy for Harbaugh.
I remember when you used to get fired for lying to the NCAA 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/NqhCOhclEZ
— Mekka Don (@MekkaDonMusic) July 25, 2023
Dez Bryant was suspended for a full year for lying to investigators about a non-violation. https://t.co/bTmJ1SGP6l
— Cade Webb (@cadewebb) July 25, 2023
Im old enough to remember when giving impermissable benefits and lying and cheating meant loss of wins and post season bans and coaches fired and exiled. https://t.co/vXwLKvXE6C
— Jeremiah (@SYRmotsag) July 25, 2023
Jim Harbaugh is a lying, cheating scumbag? Wish I could say I’m shocked. Classic Michigan behavior. https://t.co/Rhl7GQyKMb
— Unbiased Ev (@DoubleVodkaDon) July 25, 2023
As long as Harbaugh is around for the sharp end of the Michigan schedule, something tells us Wolverines fans won’t sweat this too much.