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There’s an oft-maligned archetype in football that typically looks like this: An elite college coach bends (breaks, sometimes) the rules, violates every NCAA protocol imaginable, but ends up getting off scot-free by merely jumping to the NFL.
Some big name coaches, like Pete Carroll and Urban Meyer, fit that archetype to a tee.
Carroll left a smoldering mess at the University of Southern California (the reverberations of which are still being felt in 2024), rife with allegations of improperly paying players, before jumping to the Seattle Seahawks.
Meyer faced similar recruiting violation allegations, as well as accusations of running dangerously loose ships at stops in Florida and Ohio State, the latter of which was his last stop before a bad run as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For many, new Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh appeared to be the next coach to follow in those dubious footsteps.
But not according to the outspoken Harbaugh himself.
The embattled football coach just recently returned to the NFL (Harbaugh’s prior stint involved coaching Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers) after a celebrated stint as the head coach for the University of Michigan Wolverines.
Despite the celebrations, Harbaugh’s final year in Ann Arbor was a controversial one, to say the least.
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Both the coach and his staff were accused of effectively employing an undercover spy who brazenly infiltrated sidelines of forthcoming opponents to steal signs and such.
(Of note, “stealing signs” is actually completely legal in the NCAA. It’s the whole in-person spy issue that is illegal.)
Fair or not, to say that these allegations left a black eye on Michigan’s eventual college national championship victory would be a vast understatement.
According to ESPN, Harbaugh continues to face scrutiny from the NCAA, despite his jump to the pros.
ESPN acquired an NCAA notice of allegations regarding the Michigan football program, and it named Harbaugh as one of seven individuals involved with Michigan who broke various rules.
Harbaugh “is accused of committing a Level 1 violation, the most serious category in the NCAA’s enforcement process,” ESPN noted.
The sports network added: “The NCAA accuses Harbaugh of not cooperating because he denied the organization’s request to view relevant messages and phone records from his cellphone.”
Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale are also part of the NCAA notice, and both left Michigan to join Harbaugh in Los Angeles.
“Clinkscale is accused of helping a recruit get verified on Instagram and of writing a $100 check for a golf charity event run by a recruit’s father,” ESPN reported, before adding that Minter is accused of illegally texting a high school sophomore recruit.
Harbaugh, speaking to reporters Monday, was defiant in the face of the newest revelations.
“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal. I was raised with that lesson,” Harbaugh said. “I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I have coached. No one is perfect. If you stumble, you apologize, and you make it right.
“Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
Harbaugh, Clinkscale and Minter all face “show-cause” restrictions, which will be triggered should any of them return to college football.
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