Jim Harbaugh said last month he was done with his NCAA efforts, but that didn’t stop the former Michigan coach from pursuing further.
In an ESPN article published Monday about Harbaugh’s first eight months back in the NFL, the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers vented his frustration with the NCAA and its authority.
“They’ve been withholding money from players for decades,” Harbaugh told ESPN’s Kris Rhim. “They just got hit with a $2.7 billion lawsuit. They have no credibility. That’s the truth.”
Harbaugh’s comments come as he and his alma mater, the University of Michigan, are under investigation by the NCAA for a sign-stealing incident that allegedly violated pre-season scouting rules. The former employee at the center of the controversy, Connor Stalions, broke his silence in a Netflix special last week, while Stalions, Harbaugh and Michigan all face possible Level I violations.
Harbaugh already faces a four-year penalty from the NCAA for misleading law enforcement officials investigating his Michigan program for recruiting violations in 2021. That penalty runs through August 2028 and includes a one-year ban should he return to college football before then.
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After the NCAA imposed the show-cause penalty on Harbaugh, he told reporters in Los Angeles that he wanted to “stop engaging with commentary there,” but made the following statement about the state of college sports:
“My only hope remains that college sports will one day be about achieving the best for the young men and women who participate in it,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh, who coached the Wolverines for nine seasons, insisted during his final years at Michigan that student-athletes should receive a share of the revenue generated annually from the lucrative media rights deals with the television networks. For example, the Big Ten is in the midst of a seven-year, $8 billion deal with FOX, NBC and CBS that will pay each school nearly $60 million in 2023.
In July, the NCAA settled an antitrust lawsuit that would pay out more than $2.7 billion in back pay to former college athletes who were prohibited from profiting from their name, image and likeness (NIL), and established a system that would allow member schools to pay a percentage of their annual revenue to current student-athletes. The current rules allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, adding to a financial shockwave that has rocked college sports in recent years.
Even in January, in the days leading up to Michigan’s national title game against Washington, Harbaugh continued to use media calls with reporters to openly advocate for player profit sharing.
“We’re all robbing the same train here,” Harbaugh said at the time, days before taking the Chargers job. “Coaches, administrators, media, TV networks, conferences, NCAA. And the ones who are really robbing the train, the ones who could really get hurt, are only getting a very small piece.”
As for his debut season with the Chargers, players say things have changed quickly within the organization with Harbaugh at the helm, with many describing a renewed focus on culture, the team and attention to small details.
“It feels like the coach is running the team the way it should be run,” linebacker Joey Bosa, who played at Michigan’s rival Ohio State, told ESPN. “It feels like you’re back in college with Coach (Urban) Meyer. The message comes from the top and doesn’t get muddled as you go down the ladder.”
