Two weeks ago, Jim Harbaugh stood behind a microphone, wearing a black hat with an arched lightning bolt across its face. His mouth was curled in the opposite direction, pointing upwards and projecting a smile.
“This is the best damn job I ever had to start out,” the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach told his audience.
It was the confession of a man who was free and clear after he made it out from under the NCAA cloud of suspicion that hovered over him and the Michigan football team he had ditched in late January. At his new NFL gig in sunny California, Harbaugh no longer had to fret about the potential ramifications of a pair of investigations that ensnared him and the Wolverines. He found an escapeway, racing out west like the Dust Bowl survivors on Route 66 looking to start a new chapter in their lives. In Harbaugh’s rearview mirror was a national championship program awaiting its eventual comeuppance. It started to arrive Tuesday, when the NCAA announced Michigan had agreed to a negotiated resolution that includes a three-year probation, a fine and unspecified recruiting restrictions stemming from a case centered on impermissible coaching and recruiting activities alleged to have been committed by Harbaugh’s staff.
SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? Michigan football gets punished by NCAA. What does it mean for this year, Sherrone Moore?
The news spawned another unpleasant headline for a program enduring a rough offseason and an inauspicious introduction to Sherrone Moore’s tenure as its new coach. Moore, who had been elevated from his role as offensive coordinator, took command of a team in transition during the turbulent wake of Harbaugh’s well-publicized departure. Soon thereafter, the entire defensive staff left, along with renowned strength and conditioning director Ben Herbert. Their departures came on the…
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