INDIANAPOLIS – Eight times.
That’s how many times Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked about the the possibility of a four-game suspension to start the 2023 season. Harbaugh addressed the first attempt at the podium at Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday.
"I'm not allowed to talk about any aspect of that ongoing situation," Harbaugh said. "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."
Every other deflection was a variation of that statement – whether the question was about the investigation, potential contingency plans for the coaching staff of any other aspect of the NCAA investigation. Harbaugh wasn't having it, even though you could tell he kind of wanted to have at it.
"As a football player or football coach, you lay it all out there, and this is one of those situations where I can't do that," Harbaugh said.
On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated reported Harbaugh likely will face a four-game suspension to start the 2023 season. He faces a Level I violation of misleading NCAA investigators and not cooperating with an investigation about impermissible contact with recruits. On3's Chris Balas also reported that Harbaugh took two recruits lunch and when confronted about receipts "wasn't completely honest."
That hamburger has made an impact, too. The coach who has spent the last nine years at Big Ten Media Days shuffling moods ranging from serious to surly to surreal was a sympathetic figure after news of the potential violations broke. ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum even defended Harbaugh this week and called the NCAA a "clown show."
It's an ironic twist given Harbaugh spent a significant portion of Thursday's breakout session defending NIL and the transfer portal – the two most-talked about so-called threats to the sanctity of college football.
Harbaugh on NIL: "Give it a chance to work, would be my response. We don't know if it's broke. Do we know if it's broke yet?"
Harbaugh on the transfer portal: "You're against something that allows a young man and his family to decide where he wants to go to college. Why be against that?"
For all his eccentricities, Harbaugh has been consistently in favor of issues benefitting the student-athlete. When the four-game suspension materializes – and it is expected to be resolved before the season opener – the canonization of "St. Jim the Conquering Hero" will be complete.
That will be amplified if the Wolverines deliver on the field in 2023.
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Michigan – the two-time defending Big Ten champion – is loaded. Harbaugh spent most of his time on the podium raving about junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He compared McCarthy to Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in terms of the "willingness to do everything for his teammates." That's a comparison that will get taken out of context because of the name-dropping, but Harbaugh loves McCarthy.
"He's a once-in-a-generational type of quarterback at Michigan," Harbaugh said. "His progress continues to grow. Daily he's at the top of his game right now really in all aspects."
The tag-team backfield of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards is back, and Harbaugh talked about the challenges of choosing between two NFL-caliber centers and four NFL tackles as starters. The defense returns several playmakers, especially in the secondary with Mike Sainristil and Will Johnson.
Has Harbaugh ever had a team with this much talent?
"All that's too be determined, right?" Harbaugh said. "My honest answer is, 'No, I don't think so,' and I don't think I'm wrong. I think they're that talented."
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Harbaugh potentially would miss the first four games against East Carolina, Bowling Green, UNLV and Rutgers. All of those games are at Michigan Stadium, and the Wolverines will be heavy favorites. Unless there is a season-altering upset, Michigan will be 4-0 when Harbaugh returns.
It's what happens afterward that will be the story. Harbaugh talked openly about the "Beat Ohio State" and "Beat Georgia" periods at practice; the latter geared at "running the ball when the other team knows you are going to run."
Michigan is ranked No. 2 in Sporting News Preseason Top 25, and the Wolverines are now expected to return to the CFP for the third straight season. It's part of a remarkable turnaround since the program bottomed out with a 2-4 record in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.
Harbaugh, however, dismissed the one question that kind of hype creates.
"Championship or bust?" Harbaugh asked. "What does that mean? That doesn't mean anything to me. That's not real. We're the same as always are, the way we go into every year - the goals are to win the championship, to win the national championship, to beat Michigan State, beat Ohio State – beat Penn State. I haven't heard one football player say, 'Championship or bust.'"
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There is precedent for a Big Ten coach missing the start of the season. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer served a three-game suspension for mishandling domestic abuse allegations against former assistant coach Zach Smith before the 2018 season.
What was the fallout? Ryan Day won three games while Meyer was out, but the Buckeyes lost to Purdue that season. Ohio State beat Michigan in the season finale and won the Rose Bowl, but Meyer retired after the season.
Could that happen in Ann Arbor? That will be amplified if Michigan does not deliver on the field in 2023.
Harbaugh's potential suspension will be re-examined as a root cause. Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore – who also might serve as suspension – could leave. That will create another round of Harbaugh-to-the-NFL rumors; another annual offseason tradition. Would this NCAA suspension – a battle that Harbaugh was forced to negotiate off the field – be the tipping point for the coach's departure?
It seems unlikely. There is a a new challenge coming in the Big Ten with the arrival of USC and UCLA and the 12-team College Football Playoff. It is difficult to imagine Harbaugh not sticking around for that, but that also is to be determined.
Who knows where that goes? After one of those nine attempts, Harbaugh spun off the typical, no-comment response.
"I can't, no matter how you frame the question, I can't," he said. "Not at liberty, unable to talk about any aspect ... "
Harbaugh did one of his patented pauses through the next question before blurting out another response.
"I'm with you too," Harbaugh said. "I hope you know that. I understand. I'm with you."
Everyone laughed. Harbaugh, man of the people, made possible by the NCAA.
That's the unintended consequence of a pending four-game suspension.
