Trying to crawl inside the mind of Jim Harbaugh would probably end up like one of those lab exercises where they put a mouse in a giant labyrinth and see whether it can find its way out. Not only is it impossible, the journey would be frightening.
Harbaugh, however, may not be quite as slick or unpredictable as he’s gotten credit for. The last few days, the man who revels in saying nothing of substance is starting to show his cards.
What’s with all the sudden talk that he’s ready to go back to the NFL? Why put out a statement through the University of Michigan that he “expects” to remain there in 2023, albeit with the caveat that “no one knows what the future holds?”
Well, a giant piece of that puzzle dropped Thursday night when multiple outlets, led by The Athletic, reported that Michigan is under NCAA investigation for some potential violations during the COVID-19 dead period in 2020 and that Harbaugh in particular could be in some trouble for providing false or misleading information to the NCAA enforcement staff, considered a Level 1 (most serious) breach.
It remains to be seen how big of a deal this will become. Michigan has just recently received its Notice of Allegations, which is the beginning of a process that will likely take months and months to resolve.
The underlying violations at the root of the case seem minor. Impermissible contact with recruits and improperly using an analyst as an on-field coach are not high crimes in the NCAA ecosystem….
