ANN ARBOR, Mich. — At the Brown Jug, a popular campus haunt, customers can order Jim Harbaugh’s 10 oz. Sirloin Steak or his father Jack’s Famous Brown Jug Burger in a sports bar that shares its name with the symbol of Michigan’s rivalry against Minnesota.

Like its namesake, a five-gallon Red Wing Pottery jug allegedly purchased in 1903 because Michigan feared someone might tamper with its water supply, the Brown Jug restaurant has become embellished in its own piece of Michigan lore. The story has all the features of a classic college football caper: a lightning-rod coach, a whiff of espionage and conspiracy theories galore, all set against the backdrop of Michigan’s march to three consecutive Big Ten championships and the 2023 national championship.

In January 2023, months before Connor Stalions’ name became known to college football in a sign-stealing scandal and a year before the Wolverines hoisted the championship trophy in Houston, news broke that Jim Harbaugh and Michigan were being investigated for recruiting violations that occurred during the NCAA’s COVID-19 dead period. A reporter posted on a message board that Harbaugh’s transgression was buying a “Jug burger” for two committed recruits who made an impromptu stop in Ann Arbor during the dead period, then denying it when confronted by the NCAA.

The story of the cheeseburger at the Brown Jug gained widespread traction publicly, playing into a well-established narrative about the arbitrary NCAA rulebook. In response, Derrick Crawford, NCAA vice president for hearing operations, took the rare step of commenting on an ongoing case after the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions rejected a negotiated resolution in August 2023.

“The Michigan infractions case is related to impermissible on and off-campus recruiting during the COVID-19 dead period and impermissible coaching activities — not a cheeseburger,” Crawford said.

For the past three years, Harbaugh and Michigan have been caught up in the NCAA’s maze of investigations, appeals, negotiated resolutions and bifurcated rulings that would make any college football fan’s eyes glaze over. Harbaugh versus the NCAA is the story everybody knows and almost no one understands.

More than six months after Harbaugh left Michigan to coach the Los Angeles Chargers, details are filtering into public view. On Wednesday, the NCAA gave Harbaugh a four-year show-cause order and a one-season suspension in connection with the case known as “Burgergate.” It followed Michigan receiving a draft notice of allegations on Sunday in the case involving Stalions, a former staffer who allegedly coordinated a scheme to collect video footage of opponents’ signals.

But with Harbaugh back in the NFL, the NCAA no longer has jurisdiction to punish him, and he has no intention of coaching college football anytime soon.

“Today’s COI decision is like being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you’ve been suspended because you didn’t sign the yearbook,” Harbaugh’s lawyer, Tom Mars, wrote in part on X. “If I were in Coach Harbaugh’s shoes and had an $80 million contract as head coach of the Chargers, I wouldn’t pay any attention to the findings of a kangaroo court.”

My thoughts on today’s NCAA decision re Coach Harbaugh. 🦘⚖️ https://t.co/eMtUdIgXK5 pic.twitter.com/4LvPtXnxUj

— Tom Mars (@TomMarsLaw) August 7, 2024

Harbaugh has maintained his innocence and did so again this week when asked about the allegations in the Stalions case. But the NCAA’s ruling in the COVID-19 case, combined with documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and conversations with sources involved in the process, tell a different story than the version that was widely known.

According to the ruling released Wednesday by the NCAA, Harbaugh met a recruit and his father for breakfast at a local diner in February 2021, when in-person recruiting was prohibited as a health and safety measure, and arranged for them to visit Michigan’s football facility. Harbaugh met another prospect and his father at the same diner the following month. When confronted by the NCAA, Harbaugh denied having any memory of the meetings. He went a step further in a subsequent interview, according to the ruling, “unequivocally disputing that either meeting happened.”

The NCAA had evidence to the contrary, including receipts, expense reports and testimony from the players, their fathers and other football staffers. While the COI ruling fills in many details, it leaves some out.

Yes, there was a burger involved. But not at the Brown Jug.

In spring 2021, Michigan was in the midst of a massive self-improvement project. The Wolverines finished 2-4 during a miserable pandemic-shortened season in 2020.

Harbaugh was under pressure to deliver results. Many people around the program would credit the changes he made that spring for all of the success that followed: a 40-3 record over three seasons and the program’s first national title in 26 years.

In April of that year, Michigan contacted the NCAA to self-report potential low-level violations involving analysts performing coaching duties. After a nine-month investigation, the NCAA sent Michigan a draft of minor infractions, some of which would no longer apply under new rules approved in June 2024 that allow an unlimited number of staffers to perform coaching duties.

In other words, small potatoes. But two days after issuing the draft allegations, the NCAA informed Michigan it was reopening its investigation after receiving new information. That new information included evidence that Michigan violated recruiting rules put in place during the COVID-19 dead period.

Several schools have been punished for having recruits on campus during that time. The most notable was Arizona State, which was hit with four years of NCAA probation, a fine, a one-year bowl ban and recruiting restrictions for violations that occurred under former coach Herm Edwards and assistant Antonio Pierce, now Harbaugh’s division rival as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The NCAA’s notice of allegations said Michigan had “impermissible recruiting contact with and/or provided impermissible inducements to three then football prospective student-athletes and their fathers” during the COVID-19 dead period. The recruit identified as Player 1 met with members of the football facility and was given access to the weight room. Player 2 and his father met staff members for a discounted meal at a local restaurant, then met Harbaugh for a free meal at another restaurant and were given access to Michigan’s football facilities. Player 3 and his father also met Harbaugh at a local restaurant and met staff members at Michigan’s football facility.

A former recruiting director who spoke to the NCAA said Harbaugh urged him to “get guys to campus” and stated that Michigan had no protocols in place to avoid in-person contact during the dead period. According to the ruling, the former recruiting director told the NCAA, “The culture (in the football program) wasn’t to be safe, the culture was to go to the line and cross it if you had to.”

Sherrone Moore led Michigan to its third straight win over Ohio State while Jim Harbaugh was suspended. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

In July 2022, Harbaugh told the NCAA he had no memory of meeting with Player 2 or his father at the diner and said he did not remember the player at all. In a follow-up interview several weeks later, Harbaugh acknowledged that the player had visited but denied meeting with the recruit and his father. The COI quoted a portion of Harbaugh’s answer in its ruling.

“I used to have a mind like a steel trap, now it’s more of an aluminum trap but I would — I would believe in my — in my state that I would remember having breakfast at (the diner),” Harbaugh said.

In July 2023, not long before Harbaugh went to Big Ten media days and declared he had “nothing to be ashamed of,” news broke that Michigan and the NCAA were attempting to settle “Burgergate” with a negotiated resolution that included a four-game suspension for Harbaugh. The NCAA accepted portions of the negotiated resolution pertaining to two assistant coaches, a graduate assistant and the former recruiting director but rejected the portions pertaining to Harbaugh and Michigan as an institution.

GO DEEPER

Jim Harbaugh’s turbulent Michigan 2023 timeline

According to a person involved in the process, the sticking point was whether Harbaugh intentionally misled investigators or provided inaccurate information because he didn’t remember what happened. Harbaugh maintained that when he denied meeting with recruits during the dead period, it was because he had no memory of it. But the NCAA had evidence that it happened, including a photo taken in Michigan’s football facility and a breakfast receipt that showed someone ordering a bacon cheeseburger for breakfast.

When presented with the receipt, Harbaugh changed his tune.

“I had to be there, because somebody ordered a hamburger for breakfast,” he said, according to a person involved in the process. “Who else orders a hamburger for breakfast besides me? Nobody.”

The negotiated resolution fell apart. Michigan instead self-imposed a three-game suspension for Harbaugh.

Before the first game, Harbaugh stood inside Schembechler Hall with a typewritten statement and lambasted the NCAA’s status quo. It was neither the first nor the last time he would criticize schools for hoarding the massive revenues generated by college football, but his comments had a particular bite given his looming suspension.

“What I don’t understand is how the NCAA, the television networks, the conferences, the universities and coaches can continue to pull in millions and in some cases billions of dollars of revenue off the efforts of college student-athletes across the country without providing enough opportunities to share in the ever-increasing revenues,” he said.

Harbaugh spent the first three Saturdays last season in school-imposed exile, mowing his lawn, working the chains for his son’s youth football team and attending a funeral for one of his former players at Stanford.

Upon returning, Harbaugh promised to institute policies that would make Michigan the “gold standard” for NCAA rules compliance. Little did anyone know that another suspension was around the corner.

The instructions said to enter an unmarked door in the alley behind an Ann Arbor steakhouse. The restaurant was closed, but Jim Stapleton would be waiting in the downstairs lounge.

Convinced someone was out to get Harbaugh in the wake of the Stalions revelations, a segment of the Michigan fan base focused its attention on Stapleton, a lawyer, Michigan booster and former Detroit Tigers executive who happened to serve on the Committee on Infractions. Some fans believed he was leaking information about the Stalions case in an effort to harm Harbaugh.

The news that the NCAA was investigating the alleged sign-stealing operation broke less than a month after Harbaugh returned from suspension. Stalions, a previously anonymous staffer earning $55,000 per year, was identified as the ringleader of a scheme to buy tickets for dozens of games involving Michigan’s opponents and collect video footage of opponents’ signals.

The story prompted an uproar from fans of Michigan’s Big Ten opponents, who saw Harbaugh as a cheater and Michigan’s holier-than-thou image as a fraud, and urged commissioner Tony Petitti to take action. He ultimately did, suspending Harbaugh for the final three regular-season games for violations of the league’s sportsmanship policy.

In the eyes of many Michigan fans, Harbaugh was being persecuted for the equivalent of jaywalking, possibly because he had the nerve to call out NCAA hypocrisy. The NCAA’s investigation reportedly originated with an outside investigative firm, spawning the wild theories and paranoia among Michigan fans and school administrators that enveloped Stapleton, among others.

Stapleton, who previously served on the board of regents at Eastern Michigan, had been accused of trying to undermine Harbaugh in the past because of bitterness about former coach Brady Hoke’s firing and the process of Harbaugh’s hiring.

He sent a lengthy email to members of Michigan’s campus community in January denying allegations of spreading information about the sign-stealing investigation, outlining legal steps he’d taken to clear his name and documenting a personal toll, including “numerous death threats and character assassinations against me posted online.”

Stapleton then agreed to an on-the-record interview with The Athletic and provided instructions for where to meet clandestinely.

From the steakhouse lounge, he laid out the reasons why he couldn’t have accessed privileged information about the NCAA’s investigations into Harbaugh’s program, including the COI’s recusal procedures and the wall of separation between the NCAA’s enforcement staff and COI members who rule on cases. He also denied that anyone at the NCAA had it out for Harbaugh or Michigan.

“The NCAA will investigate anything that’s credible, no matter where it comes from,” Stapleton said. “Rumors come every day. But if something’s credible, it’s their job to investigate it. This notion that it was done to ‘get Michigan’ or ‘get Harbaugh,’ that wasn’t the NCAA’s intent. Maybe it was someone else’s.”

If the allegations were intended to disrupt Michigan’s dream season, the plot failed.

GO DEEPER

Michigan’s choose-your-own-adventure season always had a championship ending

Sherrone Moore, now Michigan’s head coach, led the Wolverines to three victories in Harbaugh’s absence, including a dramatic 30-24 win against unbeaten Ohio State. Harbaugh returned for the postseason, twice-suspended but as defiant as ever.

“We stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent,” Harbaugh said after Michigan’s 34-13 victory against Washington in the championship game. “And I’d like to point that out. These guys are innocent.”

Harbaugh made his long-awaited return to the NFL two weeks later, leaving Michigan to celebrate a national championship and unwind a tangle of NCAA allegations.

No longer obligated to defend its former coach, Michigan reached a negotiated resolution with the NCAA in April that included three years of probation and an acknowledgment that Harbaugh “failed to meet his responsibility to cooperate” with the investigation into COVID-19 recruiting violations.

“I can almost hear the wheels of the bus going, ‘whomp, whomp,’” Mars wrote in a statement.

Jim Harbaugh’s final year at Michigan ended with a national title parade. (Nic Antaya / Getty Images)

Sunday, Michigan received a draft of the NCAA’s allegations in the Stalions case, including a potential Level II charge against Moore for allegedly deleting a chain of text messages with Stalions shortly after news of the scandal broke. Moore was among the coaches who reached negotiated resolutions with the NCAA in the COVID-19 case and served a one-game suspension last season. Michigan could also face penalties if the NCAA finds that the new allegations constitute a pattern of noncompliance.

Stalions, who hasn’t spoken publicly since the scandal broke, is set to tell his side of the story in a Netflix documentary scheduled for release Aug. 27. Harbaugh reiterated to reporters this week that he “did not participate, was not aware, nor complicit” in Stalions’ alleged scheme, but he faces further NCAA penalties for not fully complying with an NCAA request to turn over emails and messages from a personal device. There’s no telling when punishment will ultimately be handed down.

GO DEEPER

How will Connor Stalions case shake out? What’s Michigan’s recruiting philosophy? Mailbag

Advertisement

And though “Burgergate” has been resolved, one key question remains: Did the whole thing really start with a cheeseburger at the Brown Jug? According to one person familiar with the case, the answer was no.

“(Harbaugh) was never at the Brown Jug,” the person said. “His whole deal was Denny’s.”

Denny’s? Home of the Grand Slam and Moons Over My Hammy? That wouldn’t be out of character for Harbaugh, a professed Cracker Barrel aficionado, but the story had a few problems. A quick Google search revealed only one Denny’s in Ann Arbor, located along a busy stretch of Washtenaw Avenue next to a pet supply store. Not the most appealing place to take a prospective recruit. Also, the restaurant closed in 2022, meaning the Denny’s and its secrets might be sealed forever.

There was one person who could settle the question once and for all: the father of the recruit identified as Player 2. When reached by The Athletic, he confirmed that the infamous meal took place, but it wasn’t at Denny’s or the Brown Jug. They met Harbaugh at some local place, he said, a diner not far from Michigan Stadium …

“Was it Benny’s?”

“Yeah. Benny’s.”

That would be Benny’s Family Dining, an Ann Arbor institution where swimmer Michael Phelps famously loaded up on carbs while training for the Olympics. According to the father of Player 2, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the NCAA investigation, they had come to Ann Arbor for a self-guided tour. At other stops, coaches told them where to pick up a campus map but had no in-person contact. At Michigan, there was a meal the day they arrived, breakfast the next morning, then a tour of the football facility. None of which was permitted.

“It was completely, 100 percent different than everywhere else,” the recruit’s father said. “Even SEC schools that you thought in the past would have bent rules did it by the books.”

The player, who was not committed to any school at the time, did not sign with Michigan. The player’s father eventually had to hire a lawyer to deal with the NCAA fallout. He said he realized at the time Michigan was breaking the dead-period rules but didn’t feel he was in a position to say anything.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is Harbaugh. It’s a big-time program,’” he said. “You don’t want to say no.”

On a recent Monday morning, the early crowd was starting to thin out at Benny’s, where photos of Michigan stars adorn the walls. The day’s specials, written on a dry-erase board, included a bacon cheeseburger and fries for $12.99. Yes, the waitress confirmed, you can order it for breakfast.

For months, Michigan fans had been going to the Brown Jug, scanning the menu in search of the famous cheeseburger. It turned out it was here all along, waiting for someone to order it. As the NCAA said, the real story of “Burgergate” was about impermissible recruiting contact and violations of the dead period rules, not a cheeseburger.

For the record, it was delicious. A bit heavy for 9 in the morning, but well worth the wait.

(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

President Biden hosted the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers at the White House on Thursday. 

The president shared a few jokes shortly after he entered the East Room of the White House. Biden even complimented Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on his suit, saying, “Looking good, Nathan.”

After Biden gave a few remarks about the Rangers’ championship season, manager Bruce Bochy presented him with a customized jersey. Biden then held up the jersey and posed for a photo. Bochy also gave the president a pair of cowboy boots.

Moments later, Biden asked, “All right, what am I doing now?” as the guests and players laughed. 

The president followed up what appeared to be a joke by asking a military aide who approached him if they were trying to take one of the gifts he had just received.

“Are you stealing my jersey?” he asked, before cracking a smile and eventually handing off the personalized gift.

BIDEN HOSTS TEXAS RANGERS AT WHITE HOUSE TO CELEBRATE 2023 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP

After a couple of seconds of awkwardly standing on the stage, the president raised both hands as music played in the background.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy presents President Biden with a team jersey during an event to celebrate the team’s World Series championship in the East Room at the White House Aug. 8, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Distinguished guests, please remain in your seats as the president departs,” the emcee then announced. Biden left the stage and greeted two children seated in the first row. 

The president then faced the Rangers players and gave them a military-style salute before turning back around and walking out of the room.

President Biden during a celebration in honor of the 2023 World Series champions, the Texas Rangers, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Aug. 8, 2024.  (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games last year to claim the franchise’s first World Series title. 

Shortstop Corey Seager was the series MVP.

The Rangers entered Thursday in third place in the AL West.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

At a dinner with his players, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta secretly hired a team of professional pickpockets. The sleight-of-hand artists were tasked with going round the tables, pinching phones and wallets from an unwitting first-team squad.

At the end of the meal, Arteta stood up and asked them the team to empty their pockets. A number of players were missing valuable items. The idea was to teach his squad the importance of being ready, alert and prepared — at all times.

This kind of innovative thinking is typical of Arteta, who sees every occasion as an opportunity for learning and development. His influence is evident across every dimension of Arsenal. They have become a team built to his specifications, and a club moulded around his competitive spirit. His obsession with improvement has been infectious. It’s a mentality that has proliferated throughout the club.

The Arsenal manager is preparing to take charge of his fifth full season with Arsenal. The transformation since he took charge in 2019 has been dramatic. Although Arsenal take a collaborative approach to leadership, no single figure has been more impactful than Arteta.

This is likely to remain Arteta’s Arsenal for some time. The 42-year-old is expected to extend his contract beyond the coming season.

The Athletic looks at how Arteta has reshaped Arsenal, transforming the culture of the club and the fortunes of the team.

Structure

When Arteta arrived in 2019, he was initially given the title of head coach. After the departure of head of football Raul Sanllehi in August 2020, Arteta was promoted to the role of first-team manager.

Arsenal’s hierarchy had been in a state of perpetual flux since the departure of Arsene Wenger in 2018. Arteta’s promotion served as a significant statement: it consolidated his power and placed him at the heart of the club’s football affairs.

That process of evolution has continued. Arteta has not overseen this rebuild alone. The summer of 2020 also saw Tim Lewis added to the board. Now vice chair, Lewis has been a prominent supporter of Arteta and the bridge between the manager and the ownership. The leadership’s faith in Arteta sustained him through the difficult winter of 2020, and their patience has been rewarded.

Arteta’s productive relationship with Edu has been recognised with the Brazilian’s promotion to sporting director, giving him oversight of the women’s team and academy. Richard Garlick has been an integral part of the process, handling the fine details of negotiations and contract talks. This summer, Garlick stepped up to become the managing director, assuming the role vacated by chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham. Garlick’s previous role as director of football operations is due to be filled by a new appointment soon.

This core team, under the oversight of Josh Kroenke and KSE, are the nucleus who have coalesced to overhaul the first-team squad.

Transfers

Arteta is heavily involved in Arsenal’s recruitment process — he and Edu have final sign-off on all first-team transfers.

Sometimes he is the driving force behind a deal. This summer’s £42million ($53.4m) acquisition of Riccardo Calafiori was one such example. Arteta’s powers of persuasion not only convinced Calafiori to come but they convinced Arsenal’s hierarchy to authorise the expenditure too.

The standard process is that Edu’s team of scouts and analysts will prepare a list of potential targets. Arteta will be supplied with video and data reports on each, which he will usually circulate among his coaching staff for feedback.

The main thing Arteta has brought to Arsenal’s recruitment process is clarity. When Arsenal have a positional need in the squad, Arteta provides clear direction on what attributes he is looking for. The manager brings his ‘non-negotiables’ to every aspect of the job — and when it comes to transfers, that insistence on specificity seems to work. When the parameters are clear, less mistakes are made.

Crucially, Arteta was also prepared to buy into the club’s strategy of recruiting young players. In the summer of 2021, Arsenal signed six players under the age of 23. That transfer window was arguably the true genesis of this project. Many managers might have been resistant to embracing youth, especially given the pressure and expectations Arteta faced. He was bold enough to take on the challenge, and the rewards have been evident.

Arteta is the driving force behind many of the deals Arsenal do, such as Calafiori (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arteta is also prepared to agitate for the signings he feels he needs. “He knows how to manage up as well as down,” says one Arsenal source, who has asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons. “If he really wants a player, he’ll go into the trenches to get a deal done. And he’s demanding. The team always comes first, but he knows what he wants and he’s prepared to dig in to get it.”

The overhaul of Arsenal’s squad has been dramatic. The recent sale of Emile Smith Rowe to Fulham means just three players remain from the squad Arteta inherited in 2019: Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Reiss Nelson.

And then there are 3 left from the squad Arteta inherited⌛️ https://t.co/3wvH902aML pic.twitter.com/wNi4MG42Fw

— 🇳🇴 kimmoFC (@kimmoFC) July 29, 2024

Advertisement

Performance

He might be called the club’s manager, but Arteta is first and foremost a coach. Consequently, he has made a considerable impact on the training ground.

Arteta played under Arsene Wenger, but his training is very different. “Up until his last few years, when it came to training, Arsene was a very much a ‘volume’ guy,” says one former employee. “They’d do long sessions without a lot of sprinting.

“Under Mikel, training is much more intense. That’s what we lacked for a long time.”

Arteta has not dramatically overhauled the medical and performance department. He inherited Shad Forsyth, a Wenger appointment, from Unai Emery. When Forsyth moved on, he promoted Tom Allen from within as head of sports science and performance.

Arteta persuaded club doctor Gary O’Driscoll to stay on in London for an extra three years before eventually losing him to Manchester United. He has been replaced by Dr Zafar Iqbal, who has experience with Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Tottenham.

Tom Allen is Arsenal’s head of sports science and performance (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

While oversight of this department comes under Edu’s remit, Arteta has had an input. It’s striking that, when possible, Arsenal have tended to promote from within. Arsenal’s leadership value working with people who know and understand the club’s principles and can hit the ground running, rather than having to undergo an adaptation process. Bringing in bigger names from outside the club also carries a greater degree of risk — unorthodox, maverick methods tend to make for an awkward fit.

A major component in Arsenal’s impressive performance last season was their ability to keep key players such as Gabriel, William Saliba, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard on the field. That was partly down to managing their load in training, but it also owes something to their transfer strategy. Arteta and Edu place a huge emphasis on availability. “Look at all the players they’ve bought, people like Rice and Havertz,” says the source. “They’re a good age, but what else? There’s no injury history. That makes all the difference.”

William Saliba was one of only two outfield players in the entire Premier League to play every minute of every game in 2023-24 (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Coaches

When Arteta was appointed in 2019, he was the youngest manager in the Premier League. Even heading into 2024-25, only five managers — Fabian Hurzeler, Kieran McKenna, Russell Martin, Andoni Iraola, and Gary O’Neil — are younger.

He also has one of the youngest coaching teams in the division. His primary assistant Albert Stuivenberg is 54, and goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana is 48.

Assistant coach Carlos Cuesta, however, is just 29. Coach and analyst Miguel Molina is 31; attacking phase coach Hussein Isa is 36. Set-piece specialist Nicolas Jover is the same age as Arteta (42).

(Left to right) Carlos Cuesta, Nicolas Jover and Albert Stuivenberg (Mario Hommes/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Some suggest that Arteta’s preference for younger coaching staff indicates that he does not want his authority challenged. Those who’ve worked closely with him say otherwise.

“I think we were all selected because we were not just ‘yes men’,” says Andreas Georgson. The Swede was Jover’s predecessor as set-piece coach and has recently joined Manchester United. “We all had a strong willingness to speak when we thought we had something to add.

“As a manager, you can make it really comfortable for yourself. Or you can get a group of qualified people that are willing to speak their minds — and that’s what Mikel did.

“There could be a bit of friction, there could be intense discussions, but the loyalty was always to the group, and Mikel always wanted the best idea to win.”

Arteta applied the same principle to his coaching staff as he did to the players: he focused on ability rather than age.

“I think sometimes in football there’s an over-belief in experience,” says Georgson. “I think Mikel looks first at the knowledge, the passion and the loyalty, rather than the CV. That’s where this group is extremely highly rated.”

Culture

Arguably Arteta’s greatest contribution to Arsenal has been to transform the club’s culture.

He has sought to reconnect the club to its identity. The training ground has been substantially redecorated — the walls adorned with iconic Arsenal images.

When the players leave the gym, they are met with huge images of the Emirates Stadium. The club motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit, is embossed on the canteen windows. A supersized picture of a smiling Arsene Wenger greets you at the entrance, with an accompanying quote from their legendary manager: “Here you have the opportunity to get out the greatness that is in each of you.”

It feels telling that it is during Arteta’s reign that Wenger has been welcomed back to the club as a visitor. Arteta has not run away from Arsenal’s glorious history. He has embraced it.

Wenger has returned to the Emirates as a guest in the Arteta era (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

From his first day, Arteta installed a set of standards that all players and staff had to abide by. Those who continually fell short were dispensed with. It led to high-profile exits for Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

“Mikel had to win those battles,” says one former staff member. “Losing would have undermined his authority. Instead, it enhanced it.

“I think he liked Ozil, I think he liked Auba — as people. It wasn’t personal. It was about doing what’s best for the club, what’s best for the team. He’ll sacrifice anything for that.”

Another key change was transforming Arsenal into an ultra-competitive environment. “When I arrived in 2020, I think we still lacked a bit of that,” says Georgson. “That 100 per cent competitive mindset, for every action in training.

“One of the reasons we turned it around at Christmas was because the training environment became more competitive, more intense. We went from the main focus being tactical and technical, to using more emotions, energy, and motivation to make the mix a little bit more complete.”

Kieran Tierney witnessed the cultural revolution under Arteta first-hand and saw how the manager induced that competitive atmosphere.

“He would set you targets,” says Tierney. “Whether it is this amount of goals from set pieces until the end of the season, if you’re on course to do it, just wee things like that to motivate you.

“In training, everything is competitive. Races in the warm-up, passing drills had a competitive nature, whether it’s who is first to go round the circle without making a mistake. Everything has a winner and a loser.”

The team’s togetherness took them close to the Premier League title in 2023-24 (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“We play games in the hotel,” Aaron Ramsdale explained last year. “Sometimes it can be dodgeball, sometimes it can be spot the difference on the TV to get our brains working.”

Messaging is a key part of Arteta’s strategy. To help turn the team’s away form around, they began decorating dressing rooms with familiar images and keywords.

Typically, Arsenal stick three acronyms on the walls of the away dressing room:

IDENTITY (Intensity – Discipline – Enjoy – Non-negotiables – Trust – Improve – Team – You)

UNITY (Unique – Non-negotiables – Integrity – Tradition – You)

BASICS (Boxes – Attack – Shape – Intensity – Compete – Set pieces)

Contained within those keywords are the building blocks of Arteta’s managerial philosophy.

Arteta’s intensity can make him appear a stern figure, but he tries to inject fun when the schedule permits. The club regularly welcome players, staff and families for meals together. There have been team-building exercises including domino rallies and lemonade-making. During Arsenal’s title charge of 2022-23, the squad enjoyed a spa day and a trip to the Crystal Maze Live Experience.

The latter, of course, soon turned into another competitive experience. That is Arteta’s greatest accomplishment: balancing a positive, collaborative work environment with that competitive edge.

An example: in the spirit of community, Arteta introduced a Labrador to the training ground. She will regularly go home to stay overnight with staff or players, and has swiftly become a beloved figure at London Colney. That dog’s name? Win.

Win the dog has proved a popular addition (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Detail

Arteta’s attention to detail borders upon obsession. No stone is left unturned as he seeks to restore Arsenal to their former glories.

An example is changing the team’s training schedule to incorporate more sessions at the Emirates Stadium. Arteta believes that in doing so, the players gain a greater sense of ownership over their home ground.

In the course of a season, he will also shake up the travel schedule to keep his team on their toes. Last season, Arsenal travelled to Sheffield United on the day of the game, which granted the team more time with their families. They responded with an outstanding performance.

(Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

At an awards ceremony, Arteta expressed his desire for Arsenal’s players to be handed their prizes early in the night, to ensure the players could still get an early night.

Arteta has even expressed preferences over what kit Arsenal wear on a matchday. He had a particular preference for the black away kit of 2022-23, as he liked the intimidating image it helped create.

Stadium

Arsene Wenger built the Emirates Stadium; Mikel Arteta turned the lights on. It is his team who’ve ignited the new ground and made it feel like home.

Arteta has been central in rekindling that love affair between team and supporters. Part of that was building a team the fans could identify with, but Arteta also took more practical steps.

He has been very engaged in the club’s initiatives to improve the atmosphere at the ground. Arteta’s demands have been fed down to fan groups to help energise the crowd. Light shows, flags and even fire have been used to build a sense of occasion — all stemming from Arteta’s insistence the club do everything they can to turn the Emirates Stadium into a fortress.

It is a two-way relationship. Arteta has shown his appreciation for the fans’ efforts by displaying a framed photograph of Red Action’s ‘VAMOS’ banner in his office — and displaying a copy of the supporters’ ‘BELIEVE’ banner in the dressing room.

Arsenal won 15 of their 19 Premier League home games in 2023-24 (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Managing the manager

In his four and a half years with Arsenal, Arteta has not only sought to impact those around him. It has been a period of introspection and self-improvement too.

When Arteta arrived, he set a standard that players did not find easy to meet.

“The direction in his head was so clear from the beginning,” says Georgson. “But then I think both players and staff needed time to live up to the standards. Perhaps also he needed time to change the squad and have players who could meet those standards.”

“If the standards are really high and you feel it’s hard to reach them, that could be quite stressful. No one wants to let him down.

“But in bad times he was strong, he never changed direction. He got players who could thrive in that environment.

“And maybe he changed his rhetoric a little bit. Watching him now, I sense a slight change of tone or language.”

(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

Georgson has observed a softening in Arteta — one that has perhaps made him a more complete manager.

“I feel like he touches on more parts of the game. Of course, he’s still very deep into the tactical side, but he’s now also much more into the human, the emotional, the motivational side.

“We speak a lot about him being a winner in terms of being firm and tough and a fighter. But for me, being a winner is also being able to be self-reflective, take help from others to develop yourself.

“I think that’s a really undervalued strength of Mikel’s: that he’s constantly willing to question himself, listen to others, hear what he needs to improve, to become better. I’ve almost never heard anyone say that about him, but that is one of the traits that I think is very important for a world-class manager.

“Mikel is so determined that he’s going to be the best version of himself. He probably looked into his mirror and saw which areas he needed to improve, and then quickly made sure he had the people around him to help do that. That’s a very humble side of him that I don’t think he shows so much to the outside.”

At Arteta’s Arsenal, nobody is above reproach or criticism.

“He just wants to win,” says Georgson. “He doesn’t care if he has to dig deep into himself, or change staff or change players. It’s just about winning and making the biggest improvement possible.”

Additional reporting: Jordan Campbell, Tom Burrows

(Header: Getty; Adrian Dennis/AFP, David Price/Arsenal FC, Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC; design: Dan Goldfarb)