NCAA tried to suspend Jim Harbaugh for lawyer's trolling: Report

The NCAA suspended Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh twice last season, and it apparently tried to get him a third time, according to a new revelation.

Jim Harbaugh is leaving Michigan to become head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. / Melanie Maxwell / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ex-Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended twice during the school's national championship run last season, but the sport's governing body apparently wanted to pull him off the sideline a third time, according to a new report.

The NCAA threatened to suspend Harbaugh if the coach's lawyer didn't stop posting "satirical social media comments of the association's ongoing investigation of the Wolverines football program," according to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd.

NCAA Committee on Infractions chairman Dave Roberts wrote in an October 2023 letter addressed to attorney Thomas Mars that if the latter did stop criticizing the NCAA on social media, then he would "consider appropriate penalties, including immediate suspension of your client," referring to Harbaugh.

Included in his threat, Roberts included a reference to NCAA bylaw 19.4.6-(i), which gives him the ability to sanction anyone "and/or their representative(s)" for doing anything that is perceived to inhibit the NCAA's ability to "effectively manage the docket, ensure a professional and civil decorum in all proceedings, or otherwise efficiently solve infractions cases."

Despite the threats, Harbaugh's lawyer kept up with his criticism, sending messages even in the weeks after the end of the football season, but the NCAA didn't go through with its warning, and Harbaugh was never suspended that third time.

He was the first two: once by Michigan when Harbaugh wasn't allowed to coach the first three games of the season over NCAA recruiting violations during the Covid period; and again later in the season, including for the Ohio State game, by the NCAA over the sign-stealing allegations.

(CBS)

-

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks