Michigan reached an agreement with NCAA enforcement staff on “recruiting violations and coaching activities by noncoaching staff members that occurred within the football program,” the NCAA announced on Tuesday.
The Michigan program will receive “three years of probation for the school, a fine and recruiting restrictions in alignment with the Level I-Mitigated classification for the school,” and “one-year show-cause orders consistent with the Level II-Standard and Level II-Mitigated classifications of their respective violations,” according to a release.
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According to the NCAA, “Michigan and five individuals who currently or previously worked for its football program” were involved in reaching the agreement. The violations stemmed from “impermissible in-person recruiting contacts during a COVID-19 dead period, impermissible tryouts, and the program exceeding the number of allowed countable coaches when noncoaching staff members engaged in on- and off-field coaching activities (including providing technical and tactical skills instruction to student-athletes).”
A Committee on Infractions panel “has approved the agreement,” according to the NCAA.
This agreement is separate from the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan’s in-person scouting and sign-stealing over the past several seasons involving former staff member Connor Stalions, according to Ralph D. Russo of The Associated Press.
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Here is Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel’s statement after the NCAA’s announcement via the AP.
“We are pleased to reach a resolution on this matter so that our student-athletes and our football program can move forward. We have no additional information and cannot comment further on other aspects of the NCAA’s inquiries,” Manuel stated via the AP.
According to the NCAA, Michigan agreed “that the underlying violations demonstrated a head coach responsibility violation and the former football head coach failed to meet his responsibility to cooperate with the investigation.”
The portion of the case involving the former coach “will be considered separately by the Committee on Infractions, after which the committee will release its full decision,” according to the NCAA.
Although he isn’t named by the NCAA, former head coach Jim Harbaugh’s involvement in the case is clear, according to the AP. Harbaugh served a self-imposed suspension the first three games of the 2023 season over recruiting violations.
