Jim Harbaugh on MSU tunnel assault: 'Egregious ... sickening .... an apology won't do it'
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh provided more clarity on the Michigan State tunnel assault of Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green following U-M’s 29-7 beating of the Spartans Saturday night, and it appears it was even worse than he feared. Different camera angles provided by ABC on its tunnel cam show the incident in its entirety, Harbaugh indicated — and he also made it clear this was more than just a “scuffle.”
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As he said in the postgame, it was an assault on two of his players walking up the tunnel to the locker room, the way they have the last several games.
“Right now, we have an ongoing police investigation. What happened in the tunnel was egregious,” he said. “It’s sickening to watch the videos, the ones that are on social media right now, and also the ABC tunnel cam that’s in a higher elevation and shows much more of what took place.
“As I said, those are sickening to watch. There needs to be accountability. There needs to be a full, thorough, timely investigation. I can’t imagine that these will … that this will not result in criminal charges. The videos are bad, and it’s clear what transpired. It seems very, very open and shut. As they say … watch the tape.”
He seemed to take it personally as a protector of the program.
“Coming from this from a perspective of being a parent … these young men are entrusted to me by their families, to our program,” Harbaugh said. “We have the responsibility to each player to treat them like our own. And I take that responsibility very seriously.
“An apology will not get the job done in this instance. There should be serious consequences for the many individuals that are culpable. On behalf of the 2022 Michigan football team, our players, our coaches, our staff, our university — this has been a very traumatic experience for everybody, especially for Ja’Den and Gemon. And we’ll support, support, support them and their families in every possible way.”
There are some details they couldn’t comment on, associate athletic director David Ablauf said, due to the ongoing police investigation. Harbaugh, however, did add some more clarity.
Both McBurrows and Green have been checked out and have injuries, Harbaugh noted. He wasn’t certain if Green would be able to play Saturday night against Rutgers in Piscataway. He also wasn’t listening to excuses about his players “being where they shouldn’t” or that rivalry stuff had anything to do with it.
“I don’t buy any excuse that’s going to be laid off on the rivalry or the tunnel, or any other thing somebody can possibly blame,” Harbaugh said. “These are the actions of the individuals, and they need to be accountable for them. Two of our guys [were] walking up a tunnel, and exactly what the video shows from there.”
One reporter tried to ask again why they were walking up the tunnel with the MSU players.
“Again, trying … they were walking up the tunnel, exactly how they have each of the last games,” he said. “Those two players did the same thing the Penn State game; did the same thing the previous games. They go up the tunnel with the other players.”
Michigan State coach Mel Tucker has not reached out since, Harbaugh said when asked. But he refused to say the head coach “set the tone” for his team when it came to incidents such as these.
“I’m not going to make a comment on that, and I’m not going to put it off on any other excuse or place,” he said. “As I just mentioned, where people are trying to go … it’s something other than the action of these individuals.
“Again … we’ve been doing this, the tunnel’s been in existence for nearly 100 years. When it comes to the halftime, there’s a specific procedure. The visiting team is closest to the tunnel. They exit and go up the tunnel first. The Michigan team comes to about half field, just past, forms almost a crescent moon. Wait until all the visitors and their staff have gone into the tunnel. Once they’re completely into the tunnel, Michigan’s team starts moving into the tunnel. The other team goes up to the tunnel, they turn left going into their locker room. The Michigan team follows, and then goes into our tunnel.
“After the game, we’ve never had any kind of incident, and those are the people that are accountable. The video shows 4, 5, 6 on one. And 4, 5, 6 on another, dragging them into … Ja’Den was pulled into … you saw it, where the media is in that hallway.”
He couldn’t comment on anything else that might have precipitated it, but he made it clear the camera caught it all.
“They’ve given all their statements to the police, and they were walking up the tunnel together. You can see that in the video,” Harbaugh said. “Gemon was punched, and then Ja’Den was trying to help. We’ll let the investigation proceed from there.”
Now, he has the task of getting his team back on track in preparation for Rutgers. It hasn’t been easy, he admitted.
“It’s been a challenge. It’s been traumatic,” he said. “But we’re in it right now. So, we’ll face the challenge head on and support our players in every way possible.”
