Just days before Jim Harbaugh and players representing the University of Michigan were set to appear at Big Ten Football Media Days in Indianapolis, reports surfaced that the Michigan head coach would be suspended for the first four games of the 2023 season.
Those reports stated that the NCAA and Michigan negotiated a deal for Harbaugh to miss the first four games of the year as punishment for recruiting violations and lying to investigators about said violations. He could have faced a six-game suspension.
This news loomed large at Lucas Oil Stadium, but neither the coach nor the players seemed to be worried much about the pending suspension.
“I’m not allowed to talk about any aspect of that ongoing situation,” he said when addressing the media on the main stage. “I’m with you, I would love to lay it all out there. Nothing to be ashamed of. But now is not that time. That’s about all there is to say about that.”
During his podium session later in the day, he reiterated these remarks to the gathered reporters.
“I always treat everything like a football game and every time — win or lose — I come to this podium or this stage … since 1982 I lay it all out there. But this is one of those situations where I cannot do that.”
Despite Harbaugh being mum on the topic of suspension, the Wolverines in attendance had a bit more to add to the conversation. A running theme between the three was that their coach would be on the sidelines come game day “in spirit.”
Running back Blake Corum said the team loves their coach and they have his support.
“I don’t really know what’s going on,” Corum said. “But, you know, we’ll treat each game the same. We know coach Harbaugh, whether he’s there or not – if he’s not there he’ll be there in spirit. He’s prepared us enough, so those four games, we can rally together.
“If anything, it’s going to light a fire under us and make us want to win even more.”
Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins repeated Corum, stating the team will be ready with or without Harbaugh on the sidelines.
“We’ve just got to attack it the same way as we’ve been attacking every other game,” Jenkins said. “This is an unfortunate situation but we have to continue to be the same team we want to be and embody that.”
Jenkins added that he doesn’t think anything changes in terms of game plan or execution regardless of Harbaugh’s status for game day.
“I think we’re going to attack it the same way we’ve always attacked it,” he said. “I definitely, if anything, think there will be more motivation to play for him and to be the best team that we could be for him like we’ve always tried to be.”
Cornerback Mike Sainristil said that the head coach hasn’t addressed the situation with his team, implying that Harbaugh isn’t speaking to anyone about the situation as to abide by the rules.
“At the end of the day, all we can do is focus on is camp coming next Tuesday,” Sainristil said. “We can’t worry about right now if coach is going to be there; coach wouldn’t want us to worry about if he’s going to be there.”
He elaborated, stating that the point of emphasis once camp begins is to make sure each day is better then the last so that the team is prepared for anything come September 2 in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines will host East Carolina in a noon kickoff that day.
“We know he’ll be there in spirit,” Sainristil said. “It is what it is. At the end of the day, he’ll want us to go out there and play how he expects us to play.”
