The day is finally upon us. While the Ohio State football team continues to get ready to take on Michigan State, Michigan could finally find out what their punishment will be for the sign-stealing scandal. I’ve been told by multiple people that it will come today, but I’m still dubious of that.
Regardless, the evidence is overwhelming that Michigan broke the rules. Connor Stalions has not only been seen recording games in other stadiums but also helped facilitate others to advance scout Michigan’s opponents and record their signals. The only question is whether or not the coaches knew.
I tend to think that they did. It’s hard not to when you see Stalions next to Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines talking to him before plays. He had to have known what was going on. It also doesn’t matter if he knew. As head coach, everything that goes on in your program is your responsibility.
The NCAA won’t be ruling on this matter until next year at the earliest. It’s up to the Big Ten to decide if they want to levy punishments in this case. Tony Petitti is under pressure from other Big Ten programs to do so. We’ll see if he ends up using his authority.
In any case, there are three reasonable punishments that should happen to Michigan. I’m not saying that these will happen, only that they should. Michigan is trying to deflect any blame of wrongdoing, even accusing the Ohio State football program of stealing their signs and sharing them with Purdue. That’s not the case.
The first punishment that should happen is very obvious.
1. Suspend Jim Harbaugh for the rest of the season
This one is pretty simple. When a cheating scandal of this magnitude is uncovered in your program, you have to be suspended for the rest of the season. This wouldn’t be the first suspension Harbaugh has had to face this year either.
Harbaugh took a three-game suspension that was self-imposed because of recruiting violations stemming from COVID. The NCAA hasn’t fully levied a punishment on that matter either. Pettiti has to take into account that Harbaugh has a track record of not following the rules.
Suspending Harbaugh for the rest of the season would send a very strong and clear message to the rest of the Big Ten that behavior like this will not be tolerated under any circumstances. If you cheat, you will pay the price. It’s a pretty simple principle.
The next punishment that should happen has to do with his offensive and defensive coordinators.
2. Jesse Minter and Sherrone Moore should be suspended for the rest of the season.
You can’t tell me that Jesse Minter and Sherrone Moore didn’t know what Stalions was doing either. You can see both of them signaling to the offense once Stalions talks to them in multiple videos. Minter is Michigan’s defensive coordinator and Moore is their offensive coordinator.
Both of them used the signs that Stalions stole to benefit their playcalling. This is evident during several videos of the Ohio State football team taking on Michigan last season, specifically from Minter. The defense knows exactly what the Buckeyes are going to run offensively.
Suspending them for the rest of the season gives them the same amount of culpability that Harbaugh has. It seems fair considering they may have even more knowledge of what was going on than Harbaugh did. Based on the evidence, they seem to have known.
If Petitti doesn’t want anything like this to happen ever again, he should make sure the entire coaching staff is found liable. The integrity of the Big Ten is at stake. The TV partners didn’t sign a big deal with the conference just for one team to compromise that integrity.
The final punishment that should happen is the biggest of them all.
3. Michigan should be ineligible for the Big Ten Championship
Yes, this punishment is extreme. It would set a precedent since no conference has ever levied a punishment this heavy for an offense during the season. But as I mentioned, the entire integrity of the Big Ten is at stake here. There needs to be no doubt that integrity is intact.
Banning Michigan from the Big Ten Championship delivers the clear message that they cheated to win football games that would have made them eligible. They took opportunities from other teams away because they won games by using illegal tactics.
Quite frankly, this seems reasonable to me. This isn’t a recruiting violation where you paid a recruit to come to your school or you gave him a car. This is something that actually affected the outcome of games in real-time. There is no more serious offense than that.
If what is being alleged is true, Michigan may not have even been good enough to qualify for the last two Big Ten Championships that they won. They would have cheated against Ohio State both times and beating them meant Ohio State didn’t get to go to the Big Ten Championship.
All three of these punishments fit the crime. Of the evidence that has been released to the public, these are things that should happen. If anything does happen, Michigan will rush to the courts to try to get an injunction to lift whatever punishments happen. We’ll see if that works.
Of course, we will let you know the minute anything is announced.