Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh acted as if everything was normal on Monday during his weekly news conference inside Towsley Museum at Schembechler Hall, where he spoke publicly for the first time since he was suspended by Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti for violation of the league’s sportsmanship policy, as it relates to recent sign-stealing allegations that center around former recruiting analyst Connor Stalions.
He told stories of the chickens his family bought over Easter weekend in 2020 shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He lamented how he was “dead wrong” a few years ago when called them “nervous birds,” he’s since amended his assessment of what are now one of his favorite animals to “low maintenance and high production.”
When asked about his raspy voice, he admitted team doctors said he had some sort of virus, however he denied feeling any symptoms; instead pointing out he’d just come from a workout with assistant strength coach Sean Lockwood. He declared himself “the iron wall that viruses bash against and shatter.Michigan football shows its greatest quality may be ability to adjust
As for what people really wanted to talk about, U-M’s ninth-year head man deferred comments about why he was suspended for Saturday’s 24-15 win at then-No. 9 Penn State and the timing of it to this up-coming Friday — that’s when he’s due in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, as he and the university seek a temporary restraining order on the league-ordered punishment.
Michigan and Harbaugh, who will be represented by Ann-Arbor based attorneys Bruce T.Wallace, Angela L. Jackson and Oscar A. Rodriguez of Hooper Hathaway, have argued Petitti acted outside of his authority, before the NCAA investigation was completed.
If Judge Timothy P. Connors, the Michigan graduate and lecturer at U-M Law School who is assigned this case, does grant relief, Harbaugh would allowed to coach the rest of the regular season.
“I’m not going to make any comments about where things stand with the ongoing circumstances because we have a hearing Friday,” Harbaugh began. “The support of President Ono, the Board of Regents, Warde Manuel is greatly appreciated, as is the tremendous support of our alumni, fan base, toward our incredible football team.
Michigan returns to roots for statement win to silence on-the-field critics
Though Harbaugh never specified where he watched Saturday’s victory from, he did call it one of his “top five” at least.
It was the fourth time this season Harbaugh has watched a game from somewhere other than the sideline — he also served a university-imposed three-game suspension to open the season in relation to the NCAA’s investigation into recruiting improprieties when Harbaugh was deemed to have misled investigators.
“There is already so much to be thankful for. ‘Who’s got a better than us?’ Is what we like to say. ‘Nooo-body.’
Though he has experienced this team from this vantage before, what he saw this time stood out in particular.
“How can you not see this?” he asked with a strain in his voice his voice. “These players, I mean Blake Corum with the nose bloodied, the emotion of the tam, the perseverance, the stalwartness of these guys. Watching I would have to say, this has got to be America’s team.
“America loves a team that beats the odds, beats the adversity, overcomes what the naysayers and the critics, the so-called experts think. That’s my favorite kind of team. Watching from that view on television it was, finally, people get to see what I see every day with these players and these coaches. “
Perhaps that’s naïve given there remains a cheating scandal encircling the program, however one area U-M has received recent public support, Pettiti’s handling on the timing of the suspension.
The Big Ten’s announcement came while U-M was on its team plane en-route to Penn State, on Friday afternoon on a federal holiday. The team didn’t even hear directly; Harbaugh confirmed Monday he found out via social media, when someone on the plane reached over his shoulder with their phone in hand to show him the news.