Ohio State football program will never see Jim Harbaugh again after punishment

Before the Connor Stalions cheating scandal, the Ohio State football program almost got Jim Harbaugh fired from Michigan. He hadn't beaten the Buckeyes in five tries and things looked bleak after he canceled The Game in 2020. If he didn't win big in 2021, he was going to be without a job.

Then the cheating started. Michigan started winning games and all of a sudden Harbaugh's job was safe. It culminated last season when Michigan beat the Buckeyes again and they won a national title. But last year the cheating finally caught up with Harbaugh and Michigan.

Harbaugh fled to the NFL to avoid any punishment from the NCAA. Now, that punishment has come out and it's so severe that he is never returning to college football. According to Bruce Feldman, the NCAA handed out a four-year show-cause to Harbaugh for recruiting violations. This isn't even about the cheating scandal.

The Ohio State football team will no longer have to face Jim Harbaugh as a coach

With a punishment like that, no program will ever touch Harbaugh again. If he gets fired in Los Angeles, he will only be able to pursue NFL jobs because he's not coming back to college. The NCAA sent a strong message that they don't want him back tainting the college game.

Harbaugh wasn't even punished for the cheating scandal yet. Add that on top of this punishment and it's clear he will never coach in college ever again. Those notice of allegations haven't been officially released yet but should be coming soon. That will punish Michigan for the cheating.

For the Ohio State Buckeyes, this period of Michigan football will always be viewed with an asterisk. The cheating helped them get a national title and no one outside of Ann Arbor will see it without an asterisk. It's good that the Buckeyes won't have to see Harbaugh again though.

We'll see if the Ohio State football team can show the world what they can do when Michigan doesn't cheat and win a national title this year.