Bret Bielema rips Jim Harbaugh after new Michigan report

The Illinois coach fired a shot at ex-Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh after his comments about telling the truth resurfaced amid cheating rumors
Illinois football coach Bret Bielema took a shot at Jim Harbaugh and the former Michigan man's comments about integrity and truth telling.
Illinois football coach Bret Bielema took a shot at Jim Harbaugh and the former Michigan man's comments about integrity and truth telling. / Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Illinois football coach Bret Bielema threw some shade at former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh in tweets amid a reported effort by UM against the NCAA in its sign-stealing investigation.

And Bielema used some old videos of Harbaugh speaking out the importance of integrity and the value of telling the truth to help make his point.

“You always want to be above reproach,” Harbaugh said in one video. 

“Especially when you’re good, because you don’t want people coming back and saying, ‘Oh, they’re winning because they’re cheating.’ We want to be above reproach in everything, play by the rules. If you cheat to win, then you’ve already lost.”

“Really.... Why did you leave?” Bielema tweeted in response. “Was looking forward to playing but understand why you ran to the NFL. See you in the future and can’t wait.”

Shortly after, Bielema found another video of Harbaugh explaining how crucial it is to tell the truth, using Judge Judy as one of his folksy examples.

“Tell the truth. Always. If you lie... It’s over,” Harbaugh said in the video.

“Be honest. Tell the truth. I got 90 episodes of Judge Judy tivoed on my TV and that’s what I watch. One thing about her courtrooms is, if you live in Judge Judy’s courtroom, it’s over.”

Michigan may not be taking its case to Judge Judy, but the school is directly challenging the NCAA over its investigation into alleged sign-stealing by former staffer Connor Stalions.

Michigan has accused the NCAA of “grossly overreaching” and “wildly overcharging” the school despite a lack of perceived evidence against it, in new revelations unearthed by Yahoo Sports.

That was after the NCAA sent a formal notice of allegations in the case in August 2024 that claimed several Level I violations surrounding an alleged scheme to steal football signals from opponents.

Michigan went on to win the national championship in 2023 despite all the negative attention around the case, but its head coach departed for the Los Angeles Chargers after the season.

And according to one of his rivals in the Big Ten, it was to get away from all the noise.

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.