The NCAA, which already had been investigating Michigan and its head coach Jim Harbaugh on unrelated matters, is now investigating Michigan for stealing signals of opposing teams.
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Jim Harbaugh’s lawyer issues statement regarding sign-stealing probe
The NCAA, which already had been investigating Michigan and its head coach Jim Harbaugh on unrelated matters, is now investigating Michigan for stealing signals of opposing teams.
Harbaugh’s lawyer, Tom Mars, has issued a statement on the matter.
“I’ve spoken to Coach Harbaugh about what we’ve read in the sports news and if NCAA rules allowed him to make a public statement I am sure he would deny having any knowledge of what was reported,” Mars said, via Dan Wetzel of Yahoo.com.
It’s a deft move by Mars, and a not-so-subtle commentary on the stupidity of the NCAA rule that apparently prevents Harbaugh from saying anything on his own behalf.
I wasn’t aware of that rule. Many likely weren’t. Many likewise weren’t aware of the 1994 rule that prevents teams from sending advance scouts to games involving upcoming opponents, all in the name of collectively saving money.
Mars’s statement requires close analysis. He’s not saying that Harbaugh would say it did not happen. Mars is saying that Harbaugh would say he had no knowledge of it. This leaves the door open for the possible claim that it was happening without Harbaugh’s knowledge.
That would seem to be a tough needle to thread. How could the CEO of the football operation not know if Michigan was gathering and implementing advance scouting in blatant violation of the rules to gather information about what the hand signals of opponents meant?
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“I’ve spoken to Coach Harbaugh about what we’ve read in the sports news and if NCAA rules allowed him to make a public statement I am sure he would deny having any knowledge of what was reported,” Mars said, via Dan Wetzel of Yahoo.com.
Just sayin':
1) Yeah, but since you don't want him to lie you didn't ask him did you? Nor did you ask him if the reported sign stealing actually was going on at scUM.
I wasn’t aware of that rule. Many likely weren’t. Many likewise weren’t aware of the 1994 rule that prevents teams from sending advance scouts to games involving upcoming opponents, all in the name of collectively saving money.
2) Not knowing the rule is no defense either. It's the head coaches' responsibility to know and follow the rules; any person that is not familiar with the NCAA rules should not be qualified to be a head coach. Getting "fired for cause" is in most coaches' contacts these days. Violating NCAA rules is a "cause" and the contracts don't stipulate that it only appliers to the NCAA rules that the coach actually was aware of.
