By Lily Watkins / Sports Reporter
The Michigan Wolverines are highly respected in college football. The team has won 44 Big Ten championships and 11 national championships. They are also consistently ranked in the top ten during the season. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has been leading the team for nine seasons, but he has recently found himself in hot water with not just the NCAA, but also most college football fans.
The cheating allegations began in October, specifically when staff member Connor Stalions was accused of stealing Michigan’s opponents signs before competing. Coaches use signs to secretly let their athletes know what play to run during the game. If a team gets a hold of their opposing team’s signs, it can be bad news. Stealing signs is not directly illegal in the NCAA. In fact, many teams try to decipher their opponents’ signs during games.
However, it is an NCAA rule that scouting other teams before playing them is illegal. This rule has been in place since the 90s, initially because most teams simply did not have technology to steal other team’s signs. The rule has stayed in place ever since in order to keep the competition as fair as possible. Although Stalions was the main mastermind behind this, Harbaugh must face the consequences since he is the head coach.
The Michigan Wolverines. Photo Credit: Isaiah Hole.
Essentially, Michigan is being accused of sending anonymous scouts to opponents and possible play-off contenders games weeks before they play Michigan and figuring out their signs. When this is successful, it gives Michigan a great advantage as they are able to form defenses since they know the offense the opposing team will run. Their punishment for cheating consisted of a three-game coaching suspension for Harbaugh. Because the regular season was nearing its end, this meant Harbaugh was essentially out for the season. However, he was allowed to coach again if Michigan makes the Big Ten championship.
The final ruling of Michigan’s punishment does not mean this case is over, however. College football fans take the sport very seriously, and many are very unhappy with what Michigan did. Paul Finebaum, a popular author in the sports world, has expressed his feelings towards Michigan explicitly. “I will refuse to recognize Michigan as the National Champs. I was taught that athletics should be an even playing field and to me they are not subscribing to that” Finebaum said on Twitter.
If Michigan is to win the National Championship, it makes it easy for fans of the opposing team to bring the team’s previous cheating into the conversation. It can be predicted that there will be lots of unrest in the college football community with this possibility. In fact, after the Patriots cheating scandals in both 2007 and 2014, many NFL fans still bring up the situation to this day.
Overall, this scandal has made great waves in the NCAA. Coaches, players and spectators have all voiced their opinions, and many contrast each other. Some take Harbaugh’s side and claim he was given too harsh of a punishment for something his assistant coach was mainly in charge of. Regardless, Michigan now must work harder to finish out their season without a head coach and face the anger from the rest of the league.
