Jim Harbaugh hit with heavy NCAA penalty, and it has nothing to do with Connor Stalions allegations

Jim Harbaugh is just weeks away from his debut as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, marking his return to the NFL game following a stint at Michigan which ended with a national championship.

However, any potential future return to the college game just got a bit trickier.

The NCAA announced a four-year show cause for Harbaugh, with a panel finding that the former Michigan coach “violated recruiting and inducement rules, engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations.”

Specifically, the panel found that violations “ ... centered around impermissible recruiting contacts and inducements during the COVID-19 dead period.” The panel noted that Harbaugh continually denied the allegations, but that they were “overwhelmingly supported by the record.”

The panel also noted that the coach “refused to participate in a hearing before the committee.”

The underlying allegations stem from recruiting violations during the “COVID-19 dead period,” which the NCAA panel noted were “Level 2” violations, described as a “significant breach of conduct.” However, the panel also found that Harbaugh’s “unethical conduct and failure to cooperate with the membership’s infractions process,” specifically his “provision of false or misleading information,” rise to the level of a “Level 1” infraction. Furthermore, the NCAA panel found that “Harbaugh’s intentional disregard for NCAA legislation and unethical conduct amplified the severity of the case and prompted the panel to classify Harbaugh’s case as Level I-Aggravated, with penalties to include a four-year show-cause order.”

Under this order, if Harbaugh were to return to the college level he would be prevented from all “athletically related activities.” Those would include travel, practice, video study, recruiting, team meetings, and any other activities associated with the team. Those would be implemented at “any NCAA school that employed him.”

Furthermore, he faces a full-year suspension during any potential first season of employment.

It is important to note that this four-year show cause is not related to the ongoing sign-stealing scandal in Michigan. Earlier this week it was reported that Michigan has been provided a draft copy of the NCAA’s notice of allegations against the school in that investigation, and Harbaugh again denied any knowledge of, or participation in, that scheme.

It was also reported that Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s new head coach, is facing allegations of deleting text message exchanges with Connor Stalions, the recruiting staffer at the heart of the sign-stealing allegations.

Harbaugh was suspended three games last fall in connection with those allegations.

While the NCAA world awaits those findings, one thing is clear: This order involving Harbaugh makes any potential return to the NCAA much more difficult.