Urban Meyer addresses 'elephant in the room' with Jim Harbaugh after Michigan ruling

The Michigan sign-stealing saga came to an end. In the end, the NCAA decided not to strip any wins from the Wolverines, but fined the school heavily and levied show-cause penalties to multiple coaches. That included to the previous head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has since left for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Ultimately, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer thinks this puts a wrap on everything. On The Triple Option, he explained that, ultimately, Jim Harbaugh will now have a legacy as a winner. At the same time, there’s still an elephant in the room.

“He’s a winner,” Urban Meyer said. “Now, there’s be an asterisk there. I think this is going to be a couple week story and it disappears, I really do.”

In the end, the NCAA fined Michigan $50,000, plus 10 percent of the football budget, a fine equivalent of losing postseason revenue for two seasons, and a fine equivalent to a 10 percent loss in scholarships. That could potentially eclipse $30 million, which beats the previous record high of $8 million, which was levied against Tennessee.

As for coaches involved, Sherrone Moore received a suspension both from the school and the NCAA, as well as his own show-cause penalty. Several other assistants received a show-cause penalty too. In Jim Harbaugh’s case, he earned a 10-year show-cause. The problem, though, is he really isn’t being punished because he coaches in the NFL. That’s where Urban Meyer’s proverbial elephant in the room comes from. In the past, Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel was punished by the NCAA and went to the NFL. There, his punishment held up.

“There’s an elephant in the room here, boys, though, that no one’s talking about. When Jim Tressel was fired at Ohio State and he was given a suspension,” Meyer said. “Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that they were going to honor that suspension. And you remember, he went to the Indianapolis Colts, to work in the replay room or something. The Colts, because of the respect for the NCAA and the suspension — do you realize suspended Jim Tressel? So, he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year for the Indianapolis Colts.”

Jim Harbaugh is going into his second season with the Los Angeles Chargers. He went 11-6 in his first season and made the playoffs. Now, there has been no discussion about college punishments following him to the NFL.

“I think we all know the answer,” Meyer said. “Any chance that Roger Goodell and the NFL [suspend Harbaugh]? Of course not. I don’t know why.”