Big Ten’s rush to judgment is causing Michigan and Jim Harbaugh irreparable harm

Michigan played their biggest game of the year on Saturday on the road against one of the best defenses in the nation. It was a rowdy atmosphere at Beaver Stadium, but Michigan was able to prevail with a 24-15 win on the road. They did it without head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten for the remainder of the regular season on Friday afternoon. The suspension was announced while the team plane was in the air to Penn State. Peculiar timing? Michigan seems to think so.

“Doing so on Veteran’s Day – a court holiday – to try to thwart the University from seeking immediate judicial relief is hardly a profile in impartiality,” Michigan said in a statement on Friday.

“It sucks that had to happen on the flight,” Michigan running back Blake Corum said. “We did it for him today. We did it for him.”

Michigan filed for a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten and commissioner Tony Petitti, but a decision didn’t come before kickoff against Penn State. The Big Ten choosing to suspend Harbaugh in the afternoon hours on a court holiday feels strategic and was an action that could have greatly harmed the Michigan team. Yes, Michigan won, but quarterback J.J. McCarthy noted how different things were without Harbaugh around.

“I just miss him,” McCarthy said after the game. “I miss him even though I saw him last night. It’s just different without his presence on this field. No matter what happens I can’t wait to get him back.”

Harbaugh might be back on the sideline next week. There’s a hearing on the matter next Friday which will decide if Harbaugh can be on the sideline for Michigan’s games against Maryland and Ohio State.

The Big Ten says their actions are “not a sanction” of Harbaugh” and it’s a “sanction against the University”. However, Michigan countered by saying Harbaugh is not an “institution” as defined by the Big Ten Conference Handbook and that there’s no basis to indicate Harbaugh committed an offensive action.

The Big Ten’s argument gets murkier from there. Per Michigan’s response to the Big Ten, the conference hasn’t interviewed any Michigan staff members — including Connor Stalions and Jim Harbaugh. The Big Ten doesn’t even have any evidence that Harbaugh did anything wrong.

“We impose this disciplinary action even though the Conference has not yet received any information indicating the Head Football Coach Harbaugh was aware of the impermissible nature of the sign-stealing scheme,” the Big Ten said in its 13-page letter.

Without due process, without evidence, right before pivotal games in the season against Penn State and Ohio State? That’s a rush to judgment. That’s a lack of due process.

Michigan said that the Big Ten’s actions “fail to take account of the interests of our student-athletes who have poured their hearts into the program and deserve a fair and thorough process. That is unacceptable.”

In Michigan’s complaint seeking injunctive relief, they lay out the case why the Big Ten is causing irreparable harm to Michigan and Harbaugh.

Here are some of the key points Michigan made to state their case.

• “Such a reputational hit would have a negative effect on athletic recruitment, including both the University’s ability to attract top high-school talent and to retain the players already on its team.”
• “No more dramatic blow could be given to his character and reputation that the permanent lifetime label of “missing in action” because of a purported—but still unsubstantiated—cheating scandal.”
• “The harm to the University’s student-athletes would be irreversible.”
• “Suspension of Coach Harbaugh deep into the team’s season would dramatically and irreparably harm his and the student athletes’ chances of success.”
• “The success of this season’s football team only elevates the irreparable harm.”
• “The team is in contention for the National and Conference Championship. Standing between the University and a chance at this extraordinary opportunity for the University and its students are three Big Ten conference games against highly-ranked Penn State, the University of Maryland, and Ohio State University.”
• “For the seniors on the Michigan team, this will be their last contest against these rival conference schools and their last chance to compete for a Conference and National Championship. These are once-in-a-lifetime events: the games cannot be replayed.”

Tennis star Andre Agassi once said, “image is everything”, and the Big Ten’s preliminary accusations and punishments have cast a dark shadow over the entire program when it’s been just one analyst who’s alleged to have committed any wrongdoing. Perception can often outweigh reality when narratives are created without a grasp on the full picture.

Maybe Michigan is just a really good football team, maybe that’s why they’re 10-0 and one of the best teams in the nation. The Big Ten acts as if Stalions’ alleged actions have fundamentally changed the trajectory of the program and the output of the players themselves. This discounts the hours of hard work the team and the coaching staff have put in to be among the best for three consecutive years.

Michigan players hear the negative comments from the outside — that their success is tainted, they hear opposing fanbases calling them cheaters.

“We take it to heart, man,” Michigan lineman Trevor Keegan said after Michigan beat Penn State. “The players that have been here for a while, we did everything we could to turn this program around, bring it back to where Michigan needs to be.”

The Big Ten claimed by keeping Harbaugh off Michigan’s sideline on gamedays that it’s a way to punish the institution without punishing the players, but by the comments of Corum, McCarthy and Keegan it’s apparent that the Big Ten’s decision making has had repercussions on not just Harbaugh and the institution, but the players themselves. While this greatly impacts Harbaugh, the Big Ten has a duty to do right by its student athletes and they’re dropping the ball greatly here.

“People can say whatever they want, but we know what’s true,” Keegan said. “We know who we are. We know who’s in his locker room. We trust each other. We’re brothers. We’re in this thing together, and that’s the way it’s gonna be.”

Gandhi said, “even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth” and Michigan will have to roll with that zen approach moving forward. They know who they are more than anyone else. And even when faced with distractions and actions that can create irreparable harm the best strategy for the team is to keep doing what they’ve been doing — let their play on the field speak the loudest.