Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan football team, along with other teammates, responded to the Big Ten’s decision to suspend him for three games in unison.
Michigan will play without Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season, according to a conference announcement on Friday, though he will still be able to lead the team in practices.
The Big Ten said the football team was “found in violation of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy for conducting an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”
Michigan will retaliate against the suspension ruling, as reported by Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel of ESPN:
The announcement is made the day before the No. 3 Wolverines visit Happy Valley to play the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions.
The Michigan players have demonstrated their unity in support of Harbaugh in the past, especially following the school’s self-imposed three-game ban of him due to recruiting infractions.
Harbaugh lost most of the 2023 season as a result of that. Before the opening play of its second drive against East Carolina, Michigan’s offensive players responded by lining up and coordinating to hold up the No. 4 in order to win 30-3.
When Harbaugh was a standout quarterback for Michigan in the middle of the 1980s, he famously donned No. 4.
McCarthy also wore a “Free Harbaugh” shirt before to that ECU game.
Now that the unbeaten Wolverines are in charge of their own fate in terms of a Big Ten championship and a College Football Playoff berth, the stakes are a little greater.
The Michigan Wolverines take on Penn State at noon ET on Saturday, so we’ll soon find out if the team has any on-field or gameday plans to back Harbaugh.
