Pressure is mounting for Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti to take “unprecedented action” against Michigan in the sign-stealing scandal that remains college football’s front-page story heading into the final month of the season.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Big Ten coaches vented their frustrations on a video call Wednesday and encouraged Petitti to take action. So what is going to happen to Michigan? Will the Big Ten suspend coach Jim Harbaugh? Will the Wolverines be ruled ineligible for the Big Ten championship game?
The Big Ten released a statement on Oct. 19 that said it would monitor the NCAA investigation into Michigan, and details of that investigation into Michigan staffer Connor Stalions and an alleged sign-stealing operation have leaked with each day. That reached a peak when allegations surfaced this week that Stalions was on the sideline for Central Michigan’s opener against Michigan State on Sept. 1, purportedly scouting the Spartans.
New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon wrote “Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football” in 2019. Bacon has followed the inner-workings of Michigan football for years.
“It’s a 29-year-year-old rule that’s been tested once, and they almost scrapped it,” Bacon told Sporting News. “Nonetheless, it’s still a rule – 11.6.1. If Michigan is found to have violated it, they’re going to pay a price. The hard thing to calculate here is what that price should be since there is no precedent to work with. That’s why it’s a tough spot. Bold prediction: Something is going to happen.”
Bacon weighed in on the big questions surrounding the Michigan football scandal, from possible punishment to Harbaugh’s future with the program:
Will the NCAA punish Michigan this season?
The NCAA opened an investigation into whether the Wolverines violated NCAA bylaw 11.6.1, which prohibits off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents. Harbaugh denied “any knowledge or information regarding the University of Michigan illegally stealing signs.”
The NCAA has yet to rule on another case involving Harbaugh and involving impermissible contact with recruits during COVID-19. Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension on Harbaugh to start the season, but that case is expected to be heard by the NCAA in the summer of 2023.
While public pressure helped expedite a ruling on North Carolina transfer Tez Walker during the 2023 season, this process will take much longer.
“Michigan gets due process like all other NCAA members and the NCAA is notoriously slow,” Bacon said. “The odds of this being settled before the season is over strike me as very impossible, especially when Michigan gets 90 to days to respond.”
That is why the Big Ten has become the next layer of the conversation.
Will Big Ten, Tony Petitti investigate Michigan?
Petitti could open an investigation into whether Michigan violated the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy. That could happen given the pressure mounting from the coaches and athletic directors. According to the policy: “Any involved institution or individual at risk of disciplinary action shall be provided an opportunity, which may be waived, to offer its or his or her position as to whether an offensive action occurred. The timeframe within which an institution or individual shall provide its or his or her position shall be set by the Commissioner, and shall be reasonable in light of the circumstances.”
“I don’t know how the Big Ten can undercut the NCAA, and that process will necessarily roll out the after the season is over based on its own timing,” Bacon said. “For the Big Ten to act before the NCAA investigation is over strikes me as rash to the extreme. It raises questions about how big of an advantage this is.”
This is that so-called tough spot for Petitti. ESPN reported several Big Ten coaches complained on a video call with Petitti on Wednesday. Those sources clearly feel Michigan had a competitive advantage and action should be taken.
“I don’t think the Big Ten understood how upset everyone was,” one source told ESPN.com. “The tenor of the call was asking the Big Ten to show leadership — the conference and the presidents. An unprecedented violation of the rules would require unprecedented action from the Big Ten.”
If wrongdoing is found, will Petitti potentially punish the Wolverines before the NCAA? That is the leading question right now.
“When you’re dealing with the NCAA and the brand new commissioner of the Big Ten, I’m not willing to make any bets about what is possible and not possible,” Bacon said. “It’s all possible – from alpha to omega. We are truly in uncharted waters. … If he acts before the NCAA does, there would have to be a lawsuit from Michigan, you would think. But again, who knows?”
Will Michigan self-impose punishment before Big Ten, NCAA?
Michigan has already self-imposed one penalty this season — suspending Harbaugh for the East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green games for the recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period.
Could Michigan step in and suspend Harbaugh pending the outcome of the NCAA investigation into the sign-stealing allegations as well?
“That strikes me as very unlikely, especially before in the case of the three-game suspension that Michigan self-imposed this fall, the data had been out for a year or two,” Bacon said. “There is nothing new in the investigation. In this case, it’s not close to settled in terms of what exactly happened and who is responsible. We can say a few things with confidence. Michigan’s reputation has taken a hit, and the PR battle has already been lost.”
Harbaugh has not spoken about the sign-stealing allegations since releasing his initial statement. The pile-up and pressure on Petitti has built in the last two weeks as a result. What will the tipping point be?
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