NCAA hands former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh a 4-year show cause order for recruiting violations

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The NCAA announced a four-year show-cause order for former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday for impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively banning him from college athletics until August 2028.

The NCAA said Harbaugh, who left his alma mater to coach the Los Angeles Chargers after last season's national championship, "engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations."

The NCAA had already put Michigan on three years of probation along with a fine and recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in the case. Harbaugh did not go along with the agreement, disputing allegations he failed to to cooperate with investigators, so his case was handled separately.

"The panel noted that Harbaugh’s intentional disregard for NCAA legislation and unethical conduct amplified the severity of the case and prompted the panel to classify Harbaugh’s case as Level I-Aggravated, with penalties to include a four-year show-cause order. Subsumed in the show-cause order is a one-season suspension for Harbaugh," the NCAA said.

The recruiting case is separate from the NCAA’s investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign stealing allegations that roiled Michigan’s championship season in 2023 and resulted in a three-game suspension of Harbaugh by the Big Ten Conference.

The NCAA's show-cause order started Wednesday and runs through Aug. 6, 2028. It requires a school wanting to hire Harbaugh to suspend him for the first full season. After that, Harbaugh would be still be barred from athletics-related activities, including team travel, practice, video study, recruiting and team meetings until the order expires.

Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks to the media following the CFP National Championship against the Washington Huskies on Jan. 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, has said the coach was not invited to participate in the settlement process or aware that an agreement had been reached between the school and the NCAA. He blasted the NCAA's punishment.

"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 because you didn’t sign your yearbook," Mars posted on social media. "If I were in coach Harbaugh's shoes and had an $80 million contract as head coach of the Chargers, I wouldn’t pay any attention to the findings of a kangaroo court, which claims to represent the principles of the nation’s most flagrant, repeat violator of the federal antitrust laws."

The sign-stealing case is still open and could take months to resolve. Multiple infractions cases in such a short time period could prompt the NCAA to treat Michigan as a repeat offender, opening the school up to harsher penalties in the sign-stealing case.

New Michigan coach Sherrone Moore is facing allegations he violated NCAA rules related to the investigation into scouting and sign-stealing, three people briefed on a pending notice of allegations told The Associated Press on Sunday. All spoke on condition of anonymity because the notice was confidential.

Two of the people said Moore has been accused of deleting text message exchanges with Connor Stalions — the former low-level recruiting staffer who coordinated an off-campus, advance-scouting operation — around the time the investigation was opened.

One of the people said the NCAA has recommended a less serious Level 2 violation for Moore, that messages between Moore and Stalions were recovered and that the coach provided them to the NCAA.

The 38-year-old Moore was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach when Harbaugh bolted to lead the Chargers, making his return to the NFL after a successful run with the San Francisco 49ers. Moore filled in as acting head coach four times last season while Harbaugh served suspensions, winning all four games, including the season finale against rival Ohio State.

In-person scouting is banned by the NCAA, which investigated Michigan’s alleged system to determine how organized it was and who knew about it. Stalions, who has not cooperated with the NCAA in its investigation, will break his silence Aug. 27 on Netflix when the documentary "Sign Stealer" makes its debut on the streaming service.

"I do not apologize," Harbaugh said Monday when asked about the NCAA's sign-stealing notice to the Wolverines. "I did not participate. I was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations."