The NCAA issued a Notice of claims to the Michigan football program in December over claims of inappropriate communication with recruits within the department during the COVID-19 dead period in 2021; the specifics are now public.
In response to the Free Press’ Freedom of Information Act request in December, U-M published an 11-page Notice of Allegations (NOA) with a few redactions, including the removal of all staffers mentioned in the NOA other than Jim Harbaugh and specific dates. The NOA includes examples of improper interaction with recruits, a staff member who participated in prohibited on-field behavior, and a previous head coach who demonstrated “dishonest conduct.”
The NCAA classified counts 1, 2, 4, and 5 in the NOA as Level II violations, which are mid-level offenses. The document states that the first count involved “members of the football staff (who) provided then football prospective student-athlete 1 access to the football facilities and met with him in the football weight room.”
According to the NCAA, officials then met with a second prospective athlete and his father at a nearby restaurant, where the football team provided a subsidized dinner. The same anonymous student-athlete and his father also met with staffers “for a cost-free meal at a local restaurant,” according to the report.
“The enforcement staff believes a hearing panel could conclude that Allegation No. 1 is Level II because the violations (a) were intentional, (b) were not isolated or limited, (c) provided or were intended to provide more than a minimal recruiting or other advantage, (d) involved multiple recruiting violations and (e) compromised the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model,” according to the paperwork.
The second accusation includes a staffer whose name has been withheld who provided “technical or tactical instruction to football student-athletes” and was confirmed to be “present for on-campus evaluations of 28 prospective student-athletes.”
According to the NCAA, the staff member “provided false or misleading information regarding his knowledge of and/or involvement in the impermissible in-person on and off-campus recruiting. … However, the factual information establishes (redacted) met with the football prospective student-athletes and their fathers.”
Allegation No. 4 concerned a staffer who was found to have “regularly engaged in impermissible coaching activities in the presence of the assistant football coaches”
The fifth allegation related the first two charges. The sport’s governing body subsequently found evidence “that the institution did not (a) effectively deter and/or detect the football program’s impermissible in-person on-campus and off-campus interactions with prospective student-athletes and (b) ensure the football program’s compliance with non-coaching staff member legislation during the 2021 (redacted) period and on-campus evaluation restrictions.”
Former coach Jim Harbaugh suffered his first three-game suspension in 2023, when athletic director Warde Manuel levied the sentence on his team’s head coach. More recently, the Wolverines have been the focus of another NCAA investigation, this time into an alleged sign-stealing operation that lasted years and was believed to be masterminded by former recruitment worker Connor Stalions.
The third infraction involves Harbaugh breaking “the NCAA principles of ethical conduct and failed to cooperate” when he sat down with investigators for an interview and was found to have provided deceptive answers. The detectives charged him with the most serious violation possible.
“The violations involved unethical or dishonest conduct and a failure to cooperate, which are presumed Level I and seriously undermined or threatened the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Mode,” the statement reads.
Harbaugh left the Wolverines in January, just a few weeks after winning the national championship, and it was only a few days before Sherrone Moore took over, having served his own one-game suspension in response to the NCAA’s initial probe.
A few months later, in mid-April, the NCAA announced that the Wolverines would be placed on probation for three years, which included both a fine for the program and unknown recruitment restrictions, according to the NOA revealed to the public Wednesday.
“Today’s joint resolution pertains to the University of Michigan Athletic Department and several former and current employees,” Manuel stated in an April press release. “We are pleased to reach a resolution on this matter so that our student-athletes and our football program can move forward.”