Read Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Board of Regents' complaint against the Big Ten and commissioner Tony Petitti
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Hours after the Big Ten suspended Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh from coaching the Wolverines’ next three games, attorneys for Harbaugh and Michigan’s board of regents filed suit against the league and commissioner Tony Petitti in state court in Michigan.
A complaint seeking injunctive relief and a brief in support an emergency motion for an injuction were filed Friday night in Washtenaw County, where the University of Michigan is located. Harbaugh and the Wolverines landed in State College at about 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. The Big Ten released its decision, which stems from an NCAA investigation into accusations of signal-stealing, while Michigan’s team plane was in the air on Friday. The Wolverines face Penn State at noon ET on Saturday. Whether Harbaugh is on the sideline will depend on a judge.
In the complaint, Harbaugh and the regents’ attorneys argue that the Big Ten used a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach that led to a suspension based on violations that had not yet been established by an NCAA investigation. In a letter to Michigan sent Friday afternoon, the conference acknowledged having access to evidence gathered in the NCAA investigation that suggest since-resigned analyst Connor Stalions ran a signal-stealing operation that violated the NCAA’s rule against in-person advance scouting.
The Michigan attorneys pushed back on the Big Ten using this information to suspend Harbaugh. “…the Conference has not interviewed a single witness from the University of Michigan, and while the Conference may have access to some recordings of interviews conducted in the NCAA’s investigation, that investigation has yet to interview the junior analyst or the head coach,” attorneys wrote in the complaint. “Moreover, the Conference purports to impose a sanction (suspension) that it lacks any contractual authority to issue—because the Conference has provided no evidence that Coach Harbaugh directed or knew about the underlying alleged scouting violation.”
According to the Michigan 22nd Circuit Court’s Web site, the judge assigned to the case is Timothy P. Connors, who is listed as a lecturer at the University of Michigan law school. Writer John Bacon reported Friday night that Judge Carol Kuhnke would hear the case. According to her bio on the Washtenaw County Web site, Kuhnke holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan.