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Jim Harbaugh Continues Battle with NCAA: ‘They Have No Credibility’
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Jim Harbaugh Continues Battle with NCAA: ‘They Have No Credibility’

Jim Harbaugh said last month that he was done with the NCAA, but that didn’t stop the former Michigan coach from getting involved.

In an ESPN story published Monday about Harbaugh’s first eight months back in the NFL, the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers expressed his frustration with the NCAA and its authority.

“They’ve been taking 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 NCAA investigation into a sign-stealing scheme that allegedly violated in-person scouting rules. The former staffer at the center of the controversy, Connor Stalions, broke his silence in a Netflix special last week, while Stalions, Harbaugh and Michigan all face potential Level I violations.

Harbaugh already faces a four-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA for misleading enforcement officials investigating his Michigan program over recruiting violations in 2021. That penalty runs through August 2028 and includes a one-year suspension if he returns to college football before then.

More: Michigan AD disputes ‘ridiculous’ story about Jim Harbaugh rift

After the NCAA imposed the show-cause penalty on Harbaugh, Harbaugh told reporters in Los Angeles that he would “stop being involved there by commenting,” but he had this to say about the state of college athletics:

“My only hope is that one day college athletics will be about what’s best for the young men and women who participate in it,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh, who coached the Wolverines for nine seasons, was adamant in his final years at Michigan that student-athletes receive a share of the revenues brought in annually by lucrative media rights deals with television networks. The Big Ten, for example, is in the midst of a seven-year, $8 billion deal with FOX, NBC and CBS that would pay out nearly $60 million to each school through 2023.

In July, the NCAA settled an antitrust lawsuit that seeks to distribute more than $2.7 billion in back pay to former college athletes who were barred from profiting from their name, image and likeness (NIL) and establish a system whereby member schools are allowed to distribute a percentage of annual revenues to current student-athletes. Current rules allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, which has contributed to a financial shakeup that has swept through college athletics in recent years.

Even in January, leading up to Michigan’s national title game against Washington, Harbaugh continued to openly advocate for revenue sharing with players during press conferences.

“We’re all robbing the same train here,” Harbaugh said then, days before he was set to take the Chargers job. “Coaches, administrators, media, television stations, conferences, NCAA. And the ones who are really robbing the train, the ones who can really get hurt, get 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, team and attention to small details.

“It feels like coach is running the team the way it should be run,” linebacker Joey Bosa, who played at Michigan rival Ohio State, told ESPN. “It feels like you’re back in college with coach (Urban) Meyer. The message is sent from the top and it doesn’t get confused going down.”