ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jim Harbaugh won’t be returning to Michigan later this month after all.
The Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach — invited to be honorary team captain for the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State (7:30 p.m., NBC) — has apparently declined the offer, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore told reporters on Tuesday.
Moore, speaking for the first time since Michigan started preseason camp, said Harbaugh called him on Monday to deliver the news.
“He didn’t feel like he could leave his team,” Moore said. “In true coach Harbaugh fashion, (he) wanted to be in the foxhole with his team and not wanting to make it look like he was taking a deep, long bow.
“So, he’s not going to make it for the game.”
The move had been in the works for months, dating back to the late-January press conference when Michigan promoted Moore to head coach. At the time, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel suggested that Harbaugh serve as honorary captain for the annual Ohio State game.
Instead, plans were concocted to bring Harbaugh back for the opener, a date that worked for Harbaugh given the one-week break in the NFL schedule between the end of the preseason and start of the regular season.
“It was really to honor him, for what he’s done for Michigan,” Moore said. “He came back for nine years and took us to where we are right now. It was really nothing besides that.”
Under Harbaugh, Michigan went 86-25, captured three straight Big Ten titles and won the program’s first national championship since 1997, but he left it mired in two NCAA investigations and facing a Level I violation.
In April, the program was placed on probation for three years after conceding several recruiting violations and improper use of its coaching staff during the 2021 recruiting dead period. Harbaugh, defiant in his denial of the allegations, was later slapped with a four-year show-cause penalty and one-year suspension that prevented him from participating “in any coaching activities, but not limited to team travel, video study, recruiting and team meetings” as an employee of an NCAA member institution.
Just last week, Manuel, the Michigan athletic director, touted Harbaugh’s return to Michigan — telling the “1 Star Recruits” podcast, “I look forward to having him back in Ann Arbor for that game.”
With Harbaugh apparently out on the game, Michigan still plans to celebrate its 2023 national championship team with players, “and then Jack and Jackie Harbaugh (his parents) are going to take his place,” Moore said. “So, super excited about that.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-13 16:10:00
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