Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has been suspended for one year and given a four-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA for recruiting violations.
The NCAA’s sanctions announced Wednesday are unrelated to the Connor Stalions scouting scandal that saw Harbaugh suspended by the Big Ten through the end of the 2023 regular season while he was still at Michigan.
The penalties relate to the three-game suspension Harbaugh served at the start of the season amid an NCAA investigation into recruiting rule violations during the recruiting period for players who died due to COVID-19.
The Division I Committee on Infractions determined that Harbaugh “violated the recruiting and incentive rules, conducted himself unethically, failed to create an atmosphere of compliance and violated the duties of head coach accountability.” The panel also elevated the infraction to “Level I-Aggravated,” citing Harbaugh’s “willful disregard for NCAA law and unethical conduct.”
Michigan won the national championship at the end of the 2023 season after a 15-0 campaign. Harbaugh missed six of the team’s games, but returned for the Big Ten title game and the College Football Playoff.
The three-game suspension Harbaugh served at the beginning of the year was self-imposed by Michigan after negotiations with the NCAA for a four-game suspension failed. The NCAA has long accused Harbaugh of being uncooperative in its recruiting investigation and again said he denied meeting with two recruits despite evidence that he had.
From the NCAA’s decision:
“During the investigation into this matter, Harbaugh denied meeting the two prospects. He initially told Michigan and the enforcement staff that he did not recall meeting the prospects or their fathers. In a subsequent interview, he went further and unequivocally denied that any meeting took place. Despite his denials, the weight of the factual information — including statements from the prospects, their fathers and other football staff members, as well as documentation such as receipts and expense reports — demonstrates that Harbaugh was physically present and involved in these meetings.
“By denying his conduct, which was clearly supported by the record, Harbaugh violated the NCAA’s ethics code and increased the seriousness of his case.”
The NCAA made it clear in its statement that Harbaugh would be banned from all collegiate sports for the next four seasons, with a full one-year suspension in the first season. However, it appears unlikely that Harbaugh will coach at the collegiate level in the near future now that he has returned to the NFL.
And his lack of cooperation with the NCAA reached a new level after the decision was announced in a statement from his lawyer Tom Mars.
“The way I see it, from Coach Harbaugh’s perspective, today’s COI decision is like being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you’ve been suspended for not signing the yearbook,” Mars said.
“If I were Coach Harbaugh and had an $80 million contract as head coach of the Chargers, I would pay no attention to the findings of a sham court claiming to represent the principles of the most egregious, repeat violator of federal antitrust laws in the country.”
In its decision, the NCAA noted that it had sent Michigan a notice of allegations regarding the recruiting violations in December 2023, before Michigan played in the College Football Playoff. Harbaugh left for the Chargers in January, not long after Michigan defeated Washington for the national title. According to the NCAA, Harbaugh responded in writing to the notice of allegations in March, saying he “did not intend to appear at a COI hearing” regarding the allegations.
