Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd slams NCAA over Michigan allegations

Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd called the NCAA "a dinosaur" and "a relic" while downplaying the violations lobbied against the Wolverines...

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh smiles on the sideline during the second half against Maryland, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 at Michigan Stadium. / Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

After a rant on Monday in defense of Michigan football, Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd wasn't finished defending former head coach Jim Harbaugh and others on the Wolverines' staff amidst the Connor Stalions sign-stealing saga.

On his latest episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Tuesday, the longtime sports talk show host slammed the NCAA for the allegations lobbied at Harbaugh and Michigan.

"The draft by the NCAA says Harbaugh can face a show-cause restriction if he ever returns to college sports. Uh, he's not. He's gonna go win Super Bowls for the Chargers," Cowherd said.

"Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and the DB coach Steve Clinkscale came to the Chargers from Michigan. They're accused — this reads like a Saturday Night Live comedy skit — they're accused of violations at Michigan. Here's one of them. Clinkscale is accused of helping a recruit get verified on Instagram. That same recruit you could pay a million dollars a year to play out of high school. But this is one of the big ones, that the assistant coach got one of his players verified on Instagram. I mean, is this a witch hunt or not? Another one is allegedly sending text messages to high school sophomores. You mean the same ones Ohio State or Michigan or Clemson or Georgia could pay $600,000 to legally. I mean, you got to be kidding me on this stuff. So you can pay a high school player half a million dollars cash. You can wear shirts, 'We Pay Players', park Lambos in front of the recruiting facility. But you can't verify an IG account or send a text?"

Michigan defensive passing game coordinator Steve Clinkscale watches a play against Rutgers during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. / Junfu Han via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Harbaugh and the NCAA butted heads through most of the head coach's tenure at Michigan. Harbaugh was outspoken about how athletes should be allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness long before the NCAA was forced to allow NIL deals by the U.S. Supreme Court. Harbaugh was also outspoken about the NCAA's restrictive transfer rules for athletes, which have since been overturned, and about revenue sharing with players, which feels like an inevitability.

All of those things which Harbaugh stood for have been factors in the NCAA's attempt to discredit the head coach.

"This is a witch hunt," Cowherd repeated. "There is nothing in this ruling, nothing, that proves Harbaugh knew any of it. He's being punished, honestly, because he said, 'No, you can't have my cell phone. No.' It's nonsense. That's what he's in trouble for. The other part of the draft that I found interesting, it says he did not identify 'possible red flags.' I didn't know he was the Director of Internal Affairs at Michigan. I thought he was the football coach. What a joke."

Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter watches warm up ahead of the Rose Bowl game against Alabama at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cowherd's bashing of the NCAA continued, while also expanding to include Michigan's biggest rivals — Ohio State and Michigan State.

"The NCAA is a foregone era, it's a dinosaur, it's Jurassic, I mean, it's a relic," Cowherd said. "They have no power anymore and this is a witch hunt. Day one on Jim Harbaugh's Michigan watch, they were going after him. And you know who was really going after him, Michigan State and Ohio State. They're the ones getting all riled up here, as Harbaugh started rolling them.

"I've had a saying for years, I wrote about it in my first book, 'Say it out loud.' If you're wondering how dangerous something is, how formidable something is, say it out loud. Fake mustache assistant gained access to rival's sidelines to steal signs, something everybody willingly does in the sport. Yeah, verifying an IG account. Writing $100 check to a charity golf tournament for one of the players. Really? You want me to be outraged by that? He was a target day one."

In conclusion, Cowherd pointed to what Michigan did on the football field, in the trenches, on their way to three consecutive Big Ten championships and a national title.

"I know what my eyes told me," he said. "Michigan built a powerhouse based on all of Harbaugh's career principles: Physicality, intensity, every day at practice matters. I still don't know what Ohio State's offense is. It's pretty, it's not physical. I don't know what Michigan State is either other than a gigantic tire fire. Nobody cares about this...outside of Columbus and East Lansing."

"This is a witch hunt. There is nothing in this ruling that proves Harbaugh knew any of it."

— @ColinCowherd discusses alleged Michigan violations pic.twitter.com/COGErTnjKb

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 6, 2024

- Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI -

More Michigan News:

Colin Cowherd defends Michigan, pokes fun at Ohio State, MSU

'They were the better team': Josh Pate doesn't link Michigan's success to Connor Stalions

Jim Harbaugh has major response to ESPN's report: 'Today, I do not apologize'

Paul Finebaum vehemently defends Michigan football: 'Nobody respects the NCAA'

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