Jim Harbaugh suspended 1 year by NCAA and sanctioned with 4-year show-cause order
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Late last season, when Michigan football was under intense scrutiny during its controversial run to a national title, the program seemed conflicted about its identity. Jim Harbaugh, at one point, suggested his Wolverines were America’s Team. But his players and offensive coordinator, Sherrone Moore, leaned into the antithetical idea that U-M had become a universal enemy within the college ranks, despised by all. In their eyes, it was Michigan vs. Everybody.
In fact, soon after Harbaugh began serving his second three-game suspension of the season following the Big Ten’s ruling on the sign-stealing scandal last November, Moore, as acting head coach, wore a sweatshirt with that slogan emblazoned on the front.
“We feel like we always have a target on our back, which is great,” he said then. “We love it.”
Now, 6½ months after he began running the Wolverines on a full-time basis, Moore has leaned further into that defiant persona. That became clear Tuesday, less than three weeks before Moore makes his official debut as Harbaugh’s successor when Michigan faces Fresno State on Aug. 31 in its season opener.
“I’ll say this: When you’re at the bottom, they don’t respect you,” Moore told a crowd of reporters. “When you’re in the middle, they ignore you. When you’re at the top, they hate you.”
It was nice rhetorical flourish, bolstered by the insinuation that the source of hostility from the outside is solely derived from a wave of success highlighted by three straight Big Ten championships, 40 wins in 43 games and the perfect 15-0 season that catapulted Michigan to the sport’s summit last January. But it isn’t that simple. It’s not just jealousy that has spawned such anger towards the program.
It’s also disgust stemming from two NCAA investigations that have entangled U-M and cast a pall over its recent golden age. In each case, Michigan is accused of breaking the rules – from meeting prospects in person when it was verboten during the COVID-19 dead period, to allowing analysts to coach when they were forbidden from doing so, to being the hub of Connor Stalions’ years-long impermissible advanced scouting operation. In a recent draft notice of allegations originating from the sign-stealing probe, the school reportedly faces a major Level 1 infraction for a “pattern of noncompliance” within the football program and institutional efforts to obstruct the investigation.
As the man in charge, Harbaugh was seen as responsible for these alleged transgressions, which is part of the reason why he was hit last week with a four-year show-cause order and one-year suspension in connection with the COVID-19 dead period recruiting violations. Harbaugh’s departure for the Los Angeles Chargers in January muted the impact of any personal punishment he’d incur from the NCAA. But, in theory, it gave Michigan a chance to distance itself from the negative fallout from his regime and perhaps minimize the damage.
The problem was that athletic director Warde Manuel chose to elevate Moore, who was also ensnared in both investigations and is now under threat of being a sanctioned as a potential repeat violator. Moore helped invite more bad publicity when it came to light earlier this month that the NCAA reportedly accused him of deleting a chain of 52 text messages with Stalions right after news first surfaced last October that the former Michigan staffer was the point person in the sign-stealing scheme.
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It was the kind of move that seemed born out of panic, raising suspicions of guilt even if Moore had no culpability.
But, when asked Tuesday to present his side of the story, he responded with poise. The erased correspondence with Stalions, after all, had reportedly been recovered and provided to the enforcement staff.
“I look forward to (the texts) being released,” he said.
Moore then smiled.
Since moving into the big chair, he has projected nonchalance and carried himself with a certain amount of swagger, betraying no signs of frustration as a maelstrom of controversy continues to swirl around Michigan. On Tuesday, he brushed off a question about the perception of the program and another about its culture – one that a former recruiting director, in the 48-page NCAA report detailing the findings that led to Harbaugh’s massive punishment, described as brazen.
“Can’t really control what people say about us,” he said. “So, we’re going to keep rolling.”
Moore, it can be assumed, would prefer not to have all this scrutiny as he prepares to tackle the enormous challenge that soon awaits him. The Wolverines have a daunting schedule that includes matchups against Texas, USC, Washington, Oregon and Ohio State. But they don’t yet have a determined starter at quarterback. The process of choosing J.J. McCarthy’s successor has unfolded as the Wolverines work to reassemble the entire first-team offensive line and reconstruct the bulk of its receiving corps. The doubts about Michigan’s ability to score at the rate it did last year, when it averaged nearly 36 points per game, is a big reason why the reigning champions are sitting outside the top five in both preseason polls. Michigan’s ranking could also be chalked up as another slight for Moore, who has used perceived insults in the past as motivational fuel for himself and his players.
“Yeah, I think it is something he does,” star cornerback Will Johnson said. “He does bring it up a bit. I think our mindset is to focus on us, on any way we can improve. And it’s always been Michigan vs. Everybody.”
Moore seems to want it that way.
In a speech to young football players participating in the National College Showcase in May, Moore opened a window into his feisty mindset.
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“Everybody is going to have haters,” he told them. “Your haters are holding their breath for you to fail, your job is to make their asses suffocate.”
It’s an exhortation familiar to Michigan receiver Semaj Morgan, as he explained earlier this offseason.
“What he’s saying is, ‘let ‘em talk,’” Morgan said. “What we do on our end is gonna kill ‘em because they’re going to hate to see us do what we do.”
It’s a rather bold proclamation. But it fits the kind of brash, pugnacious mentality Moore has adopted. The man, whose preferred catchphrase is “Smash,” wants to pulverize the program’s opponents on the field and silence its detractors away from it.
“We don’t really care what other people think,” Moore said flippantly Tuesday. “We’re just ready to go.”
In this ongoing fight between Michigan and everybody else, Moore is now leading the charge. Given that he has leaned into this cold war from the beginning, it seems fitting.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.
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Publish date : 2024-08-14 00:11:00
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