Urban Meyer weighs in on Michigan, Jim Harbaugh Big Ten suspension
The center of the college football universe on Friday morning was going to be a Washtenaw County, Michigan, courtroom. That was until Thursday, when Michigan and head coach Jim Harbaugh announced they were dropping their case for a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten and commissioner Tony Petitti.
It means Harbaugh will serve the rest of his three-game suspension through the end of the regular season.
The entire to-do with Harbaugh and this latest scandal and investigation has not been something former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has offered frequent opinions on. But he did share his latest thoughts on the matter this week on “Urban’s Take with Tim May.”
“You know, I was hesitant to even dive into it because so often the narrative becomes like we witnessed, and all of sudden the media and everyone there and you’re hearing things, ‘Well wait a minute, that’s not true.’ For Petitti to suspend him, it must be true. I’m still, I’m anxious to see how long it takes Central Michigan to do this investigation that, was he there or was he not there?” Meyer said.
The “he” in question is former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, the central figure in the impermissible scouting network. He apparently potentially snuck onto the sidelines at Spartan Stadium earlier this season disguised as a member of the Central Michigan traveling party.
And for all of Stalions efforts — which apparently included spending thousands of dollars on tickets while making $55,000 annually — Michigan landed in hot water and Harbaugh in the Big Ten’s crosshairs.
But despite the scrutiny from the outside, University of Michigan president Santa J. Ono and athletic director Warde Manuel have both been publicly supportive of Harbaugh and the football program.
It’s support that caught Meyer’s attention.
“You said something that is intriguing: How about the president — you talk about loyalty, support, I think about the scenarios that happened at Ohio State with Jim Tressel and then myself and you’ve got a president there that, I guess is probably risky. Because what if there is a lot there? But I would say he’s doing the right thing. Up until it’s proven, he’s supporting that team, he’s supporting the coach staff and the AD is,” Meyer said. “It’s really intriguing to watch this from a distance and say ‘My goodness, how many other schools would support their coach like that?'”
While Meyer, like many, is still waiting to learn even more about what Stalions was doing, how it worked, and who knew, he suspects Petitti wouldn’t have taken action without some fire behind the smoke.
“And I think for people — I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, everyone does it.’ No. This is not about sign stealing. This is about sending people on the road. And I guess the statement that he had no idea or their coaching staff have no idea — how does a guy making $55,000 a year finance all these tickets? 30, some big number. So it’s not the question any more of if he did it. They did it. And now, what’s the responsibility of the head coach? This is going to be drama, man. For the Big Ten commissioner to do that, suspend him three games, that means he will not coach in that game next week. Now this legal back and forth is going to happen on Friday, but there must be a lot there. But I don’t know if it’s all our job to speculate, but there must be a lot there,” Meyer said.