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Big Ten Withdrew Offer to Shorten Harbaugh’s Suspension Following Information Released by the NCAA

Before Big Ten officials acquired fresh information, negotiations were underway to reduce Harbaugh’s suspension to two games between Michigan and the conference.

According to two people involved with the settlement negotiations, the Big Ten made it clear earlier this week that it was willing to reduce Jim Harbaugh’s ban from three games to two, allowing him to coach his unbeaten Michigan team against Ohio State in the regular-season finale.

Subsequently, the NCAA updated the Big Ten on their findings about Michigan’s theft of signs. According to a person with knowledge of the matter, Michigan accepted the Big Ten’s offer after Harbaugh and the university decided to give up their legal appeal and accept his three-game suspension.

The Big Ten stated in a statement following the unexpected settlement announcement that it has no proof Harbaugh knew about or was involved in staffer Connor Stalions’s illicit signal-stealing plan. The new material did not directly implicate Harbaugh. But, as one person with knowledge of the matter has stated, it did result in Michigan firing linebackers coach Chris Partridge. Partridge has been Stalions’s lifelong friend. It’s unknown how much of what the NCAA shared with the Big Ten.

Requests for comment from Michigan and the Big Ten were not immediately answered.

In order to get to College Park to face Maryland on Saturday, the Wolverines departed on Friday afternoon. Harbaugh is not permitted to attend the game, but he is anticipated to travel with the squad. Longtime college and NFL coach Rick Minter, the father of Michigan’s co-defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, was named the replacement for Partridge by the school on Friday.

If Michigan wins over Ohio State, Harbaugh would be qualified to return to the sidelines for the Big Ten title game.