University of Michigan football program penalized for Covid-era recruiting violations, NCAA says
The NCAA penalized the defending national champions Michigan Wolverines football team on Tuesday, accusing the program and non-coaches of impermissible contacts with student-athletes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The NCAA penalized the defending national champions Michigan Wolverines football team on Tuesday, accusing the program and non-coaches of impermissible contacts with student-athletes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The NCAA has reached an agreement on the recruiting violations and coaching activities with the university and five people who work or worked for the football program, it said in a statement. The penalties include three years of probation, a fine, recruiting restrictions and one-year "show-cause orders" for the five participants, the NCAA said.
“The negotiated resolution also involved the school’s agreement that the underlying violations demonstrated a head coach responsibility violation and the former football head coach failed to meet his responsibility to cooperate with the investigation,” the NCAA said, presumably about former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is now the coach of the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers.
"The committee will not discuss further details in the case to protect the integrity of the ongoing process, as the committee’s final decision — including potential violations and penalties for the former coach — is pending," the NCAA said.
Representatives for Harbaugh could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. University representatives also could not immediately be reached.
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