Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh celebrate.
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HOUSTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 08: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with his brother, and NFL head coach, John Harbaugh after defeating the Washington Huskies during the 2024 CFP National Championship game at NRG Stadium on January 08, 2024 in Houston, Texas. Michigan defeated Washington 34-13. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
T
he Michigan sign-stealing saga finally reached a conclusion. On August 15, the NCAA came to a decision on punishments for those involved in the scandal– which involved Michigan staffers stealing signs and play call signals from other college programs throughout the course of the 2023 season. And the punishments handed out were very severe, with Los Angeles Chargers head coach getting the most severe punishment.
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan’s head coach during the scandal, was handed a 10-year show-cause order by the NCAA– making it almost impossible for him to get another job in college football during that time period. Harbaugh was among multiple Michigan staffers that got punished, with current head coach Sherrone Moore being issues a three-game suspension and the university getting fined millions of dollars.
The Punishments
The scandal has plagued Michigan football for nearly two years, coming to light during the team’s national title run in 2023. Connor Stalions, a former defensive analyst at Michigan, was the staffer that was at the center of the scandal to start– being the one who stole signs from other programs. When the scandal first broke, Stalions quickly resigned from his role. Moore, who was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach during the 2023 season, is already set to serve a self-imposed two game suspension issued by Michigan but will now be suspended for the first game of the 2026-27 season as well. As for the fine, Michigan will be forced to pay nearly $20 million in financial penalties– a record breaking amount.
The financial penalties include a $50,000 fine, a 10% fine on the football program’s budget, a 10% fine on Michigan’s 2025-26 scholarships and a fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of postseason revenue for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The program also faces a 25% reduction in official visits for this season as well a 14-week prohibition on football recruiting communications during the probation period. Stalions also got an eight-year show-cause order– with him and Harbaugh prohibited from engaging in all athletically related activities.
What Does This Mean for Harbaugh?
After the punishments were officially handed out, the NFL declined to comment on Harbaugh and his show-cause order. And while the punishment affects any chance of Harbaugh returning to college football, his job as the Chargers head coach is not affected and assuming that he puts together a strong enough tenure and is around for a while, the show-cause ruling does not mean anything for Harbaugh for the time being. But, while Harbaugh was still at Michigan, he served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its investigation into the allegations.
For Harbaugh though, the focus is solely on the upcoming 2025 season. Guiding the Chargers to an 11-6 record in 2024– with the defense being among the best in the league– the franchise will look to get over the hump this season and make a deep playoff run that they hope will end with them hoisting the Lombardi Trophy come February.