On the heels of serving the first of a Big Ten-imposed three-game suspension to end his team's regular season, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Monday declared his Wolverines should be America's team.
Harbaugh missed the game at Penn State due to the ongoing, multi-tiered investigation into the illegal spying and sign-stealing scheme orchestrated by Connor Stalions. Hired full-time into the Michigan program by Jim Harbaugh after years of volunteer work with the Wolverines, Stalions resigned his post amidst the investigation earlier this month.
Harbaugh, mind you, opened this season on three-game suspension for his alleged cheating in recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and has been ordered to the sidelines by the Big Ten for this season's final game.
A team that has seen its head coach twice suspended and for perhaps half of the 12-game regular season should be America's team, said a sincere Harbaugh.
"The perseverance and the stalwartness of these guys. Watching, I would have to say, it's gotta be America's team," Harbaugh said of Michigan's win at Penn State -- its fourth this season without its head coach. "Gotta be America's team. America loves a team that beats the odds, beats the adversity. Overcomes what the naysayers and critics, so-called experts, think. That's my favorite kind of team.
"Watching it from that view of the television, finally, people get to see what I see every day with these players and these coaches."
Harbaugh watched Michigan move to 10- from the view of his television because, as the Big Ten noted in its extraordinary letter last week, because of the preponderance of evidence that revealed Harbaugh's Michigan program had broken rules and violated the spirit of sportsmanship this season.
"Enforcing the Sportsmanship Policy with appropriate discipline this season in light of the University’s established violations this season is thus of the utmost importance to protect the reputation of the Conference and its member institutions and to ensure that our competitions on the field are honorable and fair," the Big Ten letter read, in part.
Harbaugh revealed he will speak at Friday's court appearance, where the 'Michigan Man' and school leaders are seeking a legal order to block the Big Ten's suspension of Harbaugh.
"I'm going to talk on Friday," Harbaugh said. "Just looking for that opportunity. Due process. Not looking for special treatment, not looking for a popularity contest. Looking for the merit of what the case is. Senior year in high school (I) had a civics class, and talk about government, justice and what I took away from that class was you're innocent until proven guilty. That was 40 years ago. I'd like that opportunity."
Of course, as the Big Ten outlined in stark terms in its letter to Michigan, the school did not refute that Stalions had orchestrated an elaborate, years-long scheme that spanned multiple states, Big Ten schools and flagrantly violated both NCAA rules and the spirit of sportsmanship.
Also of note as Harbaugh has asked for his day in court have been the words of legendary, late Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, for whom Harbaugh played:
“Every coach, every executive, every leader: They all know right from wrong," Schembechler said in his book, 'Bo's Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Lessons of Leadership'. "Even those Enron guys. When someone uncovers a scandal in their company, I don't think they can say, 'I didn't know that was going on.' They're just saying they're too dumb to do their job! And if they really are too dumb, then why are they getting paid millions of dollars to do it?
"They know what's going on.”