Report: Big Ten may lack any power to punish Jim Harbaugh, Michigan in spying scheme

Perhaps Michigan is going to find itself without any penalty -- at least, outside of public perception.

Per reporting late Wednesday afternoon from Yahoo! Sports, the Big Ten may lack the authority to punish Jim Harbaugh or the Michigan football program for the alleged, well-orchestrated, multi-state sign-stealing spying scheme masterminded by Connor Stalions that already has ended Stalions's employment with the Michigan football program.

Per the reporting from Ross Dellenger and Dan Wetzel, Big Ten officials -- and specifically league commissioner Tony Petitti -- may lack any authority to punish the Wolverines and/or Harbaugh at this time due to the "unadjudicated" nature of the alleged rules vioations.

In other words, since the NCAA probe into Michigan's allegedly pervasive, widespread cheating scandal has not concluded, the Big Ten bylaws does not allow this matter to fall under the purview of the conference's "sportsmanship policy."

What remains unclear is how this element might be considered a sportsmanship policy by the Big Ten, if it or a third-party investigative body has presented evidence that confirmed Stalions and his associates had scouted foes of Jim Harbaugh's Michigan program in-person and also illegally recorded the sideline signals of those opponents.

That element is indisputably against NCAA rules. Per college athletics' governing body:

"11.6.1 Off-Campus, In-Person Scouting Prohibition. Off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents (in the same season) is prohibited, except as provided in Bylaws 11.6.1.1 and 11.6.1.2. (Adopted: 1/11/94 effective 8/1/94, Revised: 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97, 1/19/13 effective 8/1/13, 1/15/14)"

Sources indicated to FootballScoop that multiple of Michigan's peer members in the Big Ten Conference did not interpret the league's bylaws to have precluded the league or Petitti to be able to impose penalties and/or sanctions.

Said one source late Wednesday, "We absolutely do not believe that to be the case," said a senior-level administrative official.

Moreover, it has been strongly indicated that the Big Ten Conference hired outside legal counsel nearly three weeks ago at the onset of this now-mushroomed scandal that was engaged to ensure the league conducted its probe into the matter with a clear understanding of its actionable abilities -- specifically as it pertained to the possibility of in-season punishment.

Additionally, the NCAA has been prompted to also launch an investigation into the alleged presence of Stalions on the Central Michigan sideline to open this 2023 season, when the Chippewas played at heated Michigan rival Michigan State on Sept. 1- the day before Michigan and Harbaugh opened their season at home.

Harbaugh was suspended for that game and the Wolverines' next two games in September as a self-imposed penalty from the school. The NCAA has also not yet concluded its investigation into Harbaugh's alleged cheating during the NCAA-mandated recruiting dead periods during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Also, multiple investigations have remained open into the departure of fired former Michigan offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, dismissed earlier this year by the school for as-yet-unspecified reasons.

In its lengthy response to the Big Ten, Michigan reportedly has argued that the league does not possess enough indisputable evidence to at this time impose penalties and moreover that "the conference should act cautiously," Dellenger reported, as it pertained to illegal, in-person scouting because Michigan has alleged the practice could be far more widespread than league officials may have realized.