The Big Ten has banned Jim Harbaugh from Michigan’s final three regular-season games due to an ongoing NCAA investigation into alleged sign-stealing, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
Despite his suspension from the conference, Harbaugh will still be able to coach during the week. However, it is expected that the NCAA may take further disciplinary action, which Thamel mentioned on November 4th, and this could lead to another suspension.
This latest suspension marks the second time this season Harbaugh has found himself banned from the sideline due to violations. Harbaugh faced a self-imposed three-game ban to start the year after it was found the Michigan head coach violated COVID-19 recruiting restrictions in the middle of the Pandemic.
On October 19, Harbaugh released a statement claiming he was unaware of the alleged sign-stealing. Meanwhile, former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions who was at the center of the allegations has since resigned from the University after a paper trail revealed that Stalions purchased tickets under his own name to more than 30 games at 11 different Big Ten schools over the past three seasons. It was during these visits Stalions was accused of videotaping the sidelines of future Michigan opponents to crack any code they had within their signals.
As far as the future of Harbaugh at the University, there was talk of rescinding a contract offer to Harbaugh which would’ve made him the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten according to Andrew Beaton and Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal. Michigan insider John U. Bacon, however, later reported that Michigan administrators would be moving forward on that offer.