The NCAA Might be Losing its Grip: A Case Study Looking at Jim Harbaugh

The pinnacle of college sports is Division I football. No other sport at that level compares in terms of general popularity or financial gains. At the most competitive programs, schools earn more revenue from football than all other sports combined.[1] Year after year, fans are enamored by age-old rivalries and new stories of incredible individual achievement.

However, college football comes with its fair share of controversies. In order to compete at the sport’s highest stage, each school is required to accept bylaws from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — college athletics’ governing body.[2] Over the last few years, the NCAA has had to deal with high-profile violations of its bylaws. These scandals have ranged from student-athletes receiving improper benefits to disturbing hazing allegations. Some of the bylaws (such as anti-hazing) are widely accepted, while others (such as student-athlete payment rules) have been called into question as antiquated.[3]

One such questionable NCAA bylaw came under spotlight this year when it touched one of the sports’ most historic teams. The University of Michigan, amidst an undefeated season as the odds-on favorite to win the national championship, was accused of sign-stealing in violation of the NCAA’s bylaws.[4]

Background of Sign-Stealing

In college football, coaches used to communicate play calls with the players on the field by sending a player in from the sidelines with instructions.[5] However, as coaches wanted to increase the pace of play and avoid unnecessary substitutions, they began calling plays via signs from the sidelines.[6] Today, these signs can be anything from pop culture references to emojis to memes.

This absurd practice never made its way to the professional level because the NFL embraced technology as a solution. All NFL teams use in-helmet communication systems to send plays from coaches to players, thus obviating the need for play-calling signs from the sidelines.[7] Why college football has yet to adopt similar technology is not the focus of this blog post, but it is likely some function of logistics and cost.[8]

There are technically no rules against sign-stealing in college football. During games, coaches can do their best to try to understand what the opposing team’s signs mean in an effort to anticipate plays; however, teams are prohibited from attending games of their future opponents in order to gain information on their signs.[9] Specifically, Article 11 subsection H of the NCAA’s bylaws states, “[a]ny attempt to record, either through audio or video means, any signals given by an opposing player, coach or other team personnel is prohibited.”[10] This rule formed decades ago when the capacity to record games with handheld devices first developed.[11] Coaches would send scouts from their team to record future opponents’ signs.[12] The NCAA felt that this practice disadvantaged schools with smaller budgets who could not always afford to send scouts across the country, and thus, the practice was banned.[13]

This rule has been rather unpopular for several reasons. First, critics would prefer the league to simply adopt new technology to avoid this problem altogether. Second, many coaches have stated that they don’t believe “sign-stealing” actually makes any difference in terms of competitive advantage.[14] Third, the NCAA reinforces economic disparities in many other facets. The larger programs have advantages in providing higher coaching salaries, nicer facilities, or more academic scholarships.[15] Either way, the rule currently exists and is enforced by the NCAA.

Michigan Allegations

Everything was looking up for Michigan in the 2023-24 season, as they were sitting at 9-0, were ranked third overall in the country, and were the odds-on favorites to win the 2024 National Championship.[16] Much of this success could be attributed to Michigan’s head coach, Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh, a former quarterback at Michigan, quarterback in the NFL, and successful NFL head coach, has been one of the biggest names in college football for the past nine years. Harbaugh had just led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance (where he lost to his brother). Yet, he claimed that he had a vision to restore Michigan to its college football greatness after a few tough seasons.

However, Harbaugh has not been free from controversy during his tenure. Michigan suspended Harbaugh for the first three games this season after the NCAA announced it was investigating him for alleged recruiting violations during the pandemic.[17] That investigation has still yet to conclude, but it’s likely that Michigan decided to act in order to show good faith compliance with the NCAA as well as avoid a more severe punishment for its head coach.

Merely six games since returning, Harbaugh found himself at the center of scandal again. The allegations claim that Harbaugh sanctioned Conor Stalions, a member of Michigan’s coaching staff and former Navy Seal specializing in deciphering signals, to attend games of Michigan’s future opponents in order to understand their signs.[18] Harbaugh denied any involvement in the scheme, and Stalions was promptly fired from the coaching staff.[19] Still, many in the college football world, including the other teams in Michigan’s conference (the Big Ten) were clamoring for Harbaugh to face discipline.

Sanctions

This time around, Michigan did not punish its own coach again. Instead, the Big Ten decided to lay down three-game suspension for the coach.[20] While unsubstantiated, the Big Ten was likely facing pressure from the other teams in the conference to act. At the same time, Michigan is one of, if not, the most popular and financially profitable teams for the Big Ten. It’s possible that the Big Ten thought they could avoid further punishment from the NCAA that would completely derail Michigan’s potential championship run by taking matters into its own hands.

If that is the case, things could not have worked out better for the Big Ten. Rallying around their outlawed coach, Michigan football was able to win three big games against top opponents during Harbaugh’s suspension. Further, Harbaugh then returned to lead the team to its first national championship since 1997.

What Happens Next: Jim Harbaugh Edition

In the aftermath of the national championship victory, rumors began to swirl that Harbaugh might seek a return to the NFL. A few weeks later, Harbaugh announced that he would be leaving Michigan to become the head coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.[21] Speculation of what drew Harbaugh to the Chargers includes the opportunity to finally win a Super Bowl while also potentially evading further discipline from the NCAA.

There are no bylaws that govern what should occur to individuals involved in NCAA investigations who make the switch over to the NFL.[22] Looking to history, the NFL has carried out punishments on behalf of the NCAA before. A former Ohio State coach, Jim Tressel, who came under fire for impermissible student benefits during his tenure with the Big Ten powerhouse, was halted from starting a position as a consultant for an NFL team while serving his NCAA-ordered suspension.[23] On the other hand, prominent former USC Coach Pete Caroll was able to transition to the NFL unscathed while USC was handed down serious discipline for a myriad of violations.[24] It’s unclear what separates these two cases, and it seems that there is a considerable amount of discretion given to the NFL in enforcing said punishments. Since Harbaugh’s job change, there have been no reputable reports of potential NFL discipline, but the NCAA investigation has yet to conclude.

What Happens Next: Michigan Edition

While the college football world was happy to point the finger at Coach Harbaugh, who is left to shoulder the blame? The players? The lower-level coaches that have remained (those that Harbaugh has not taken with him to the NFL)? If the whole program is to blame, do you punish them retroactively or look to the future?

The most circulated potential punishment for Michigan is a postseason ban in future years.[25] However, the NCAA has been hesitant to utilize this punishment in recent years, instead preferring to punish individual coaches and players involved in scandals rather than an entire team.[26] There’s something about disciplining hard-working, seemingly innocent college kids that usually does not sit right with the public. Thus, the prospect of the NCAA vacating any of Michigan’s victories from this past season also seems unlikely.[27]

It’s possible that new head coach Sherrone Moore, who was the team’s offensive coordinator last season, could still be individually punished. Yet this feels unlikely without any evidence that Moore or others were directly involved in the scandal.[28]

What Happens Next: NCAA Edition

It feels as if the NCAA has put itself in a lose-lose situation. Attempting to punish Harbaugh in a way that carries over to his NFL career for rule violations that are irrelevant at the professional level would likely be unpopular, especially amongst fans of the Los Angeles Chargers. Disciplining a brand-new Michigan team for actions of past personnel also appears unfair. And still, many in the college football world who wanted to see Michigan brought to swift justice last year will be upset about the NCAA’s inactivity.

But who else is to blame? The NCAA could not react and investigate fast enough to issue a proper punishment that would have an effect during the season of the alleged misconduct. If this is the typical reaction time, what’s to stop any high-profile player or coach involved in a scandal from skipping town to the NFL before facing punishment? This is not to suggest that the NCAA reviewing its internal procedures to find efficiencies would solve everything (though it couldn’t hurt). Rather, the NCAA needs to review its substantive rules and find better solutions for the antiquated ones. One way to avoid future sign-stealing investigations is to get rid of signs.

Sign-stealing epitomizes the current issues with the NCAA’s inability to adapt to an evolving sports landscape. Unfortunately, it is not the only example. The NCAA has its hands full dealing with athlete compensation, a flurry of athlete transfers, and nonstop conference realignments. While the future might look uncertain for the NCAA’s grip over college football, the good news is that many high-profile coaches in the sport are pushing for reforms, such as coach-to-player helmet communication systems.[29]

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/college-sports-football-revenue-2017-10

[2] https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/2/10/membership-division-i-governance.aspx

[3] https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2193344-dumbest-examples-of-rule-violations-in-sports

[4] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/sign-stealing-scandal-michigan-jim-harbaugh-cfaaf7dc

[5] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/michigan-sign-stealing-harbaugh-ncaa-12fb8a3f

[6] Id.

[7] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/michigan-wolverines-jim-harbaugh-sign-stealing-spying-c75b0b4a

[8] Though the NCAA is close to implementing a coach-to-player helmet communication system for 2024. See https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39633187/ncaa-football-rules-committee-pitches-helmet-communication

[9] https://collegefootballnetwork.com/who-is-connor-stalions-michigan-scandal/

[10] Id.

[11] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/michigan-sign-stealing-harbaugh-ncaa-12fb8a3f

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/michigan-wolverines-jim-harbaugh-sign-stealing-spying-c75b0b4a

[15] Id.

[16] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/big-ten-michigan-coach-jim-harbaugh-eeb3f881

[17] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/big-ten-michigan-coach-jim-harbaugh-eeb3f881

[18] https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/connor-stalions-michigan-football-sign-stealing-manifesto/ee1553465a60539f6aecf706

[19] Id.

[20] https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/big-ten-michigan-coach-jim-harbaugh-eeb3f881

[21] https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39380148/sources-jim-harbaugh-accepts-head-coaching-job-chargers

[22] https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2024/01/24/ncaa-punishments-michigan-football-jim-harbaugh-investigations-los-angeles-chargers/72345786007/

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-harbaugh-gone-could-ncaa-034322236.html

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Id.

[29] https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39633187/ncaa-football-rules-committee-pitches-helmet-communication