Report: Michigan discussed leaving Big Ten if Jim Harbaugh suspension came without 'due process'

As this week went along, the sense was some sort of punishment was coming against Michigan — specifically head coach Jim Harbaugh. That came down Friday when Tony Petitti and the Big Ten announced his suspension for the rest of the regular season, pending an expected legal challenge.

In the days leading up to the decision, though, university officials explored possibly leaving the Big Ten if Harbaugh received a suspension, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg reported.

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Last week, the Michigan Board of Regents met and discussed the idea of leaving the Big Ten if Harbaugh was suspended without “due process” amid an investigation into alleged in-person scouting and sign-stealing violations.

The Wolverines are at the center of an NCAA investigation into alleged in-person scouting rules violations as part of a sign-stealing scheme orchestrated by former analyst Connor Stalions, who resigned last week. However, Petitti had the power to levy a punishment under the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy, and that’s why Harbaugh received a three-game suspension on Friday.

While he can help coach during the week leading up to the game, he cannot be on the sidelines. Michigan plans to file an injunction to allow Harbaugh to coach.

“Commissioner Petitti’s hasty action today suggests that this is more about reacting to pressure from other Conference members than a desire to apply the rules fairly and impartially,” the university said in a statement. “By taking this action at this hour, the Commissioner is personally inserting himself onto the sidelines and altering the level playing field that he is claiming to preserve.  And, doing so on Veteran’s Day – a court holiday – to try to thwart the University from seeking immediate judicial relief is hardly a profile in impartiality. 

“To ensure fairness in the process, we intend to seek a court order, together with Coach Harbaugh, preventing this disciplinary action from taking effect.”

Former staffer Connor Stalions is alleged to have operated a system to send scouts to future opponents’ games, tasked with gathering information on signals that Michigan could then use when playing that opponent — violating NCAA rules. Stalions announced his resignation on Nov. 3 and, in a statement through his lawyer, claimed Jim Harbaugh didn’t know about the actions.

This is the second suspension against Harbaugh this season. He previously served a self-imposed, three-game ban as part of the NCAA’s investigation into recruiting violations during the COVID dead period. The NCAA has still yet to hand down punishment on that infractions case, for which Harbaugh faces a Level I violation for not cooperating with or misleading NCAA investigators about the alleged violations.