- - Jim Harbaugh responds to Michigan's NCAA punishment

Tyler Dragon, USA TODAY August 16, 2025 at 9:46 PM

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t have much to say a day after the NCAA announced Michigan’s sign-steal punishment.

Following the Chargers' preseason matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, Harbaugh was asked about the punishment and his reaction. He declined to entertain the questions.

"Like I said to you last year, not engaging. Not engaging," he said.

The NCAA fined Michigan $50,000, in addition to 10% of the football program’s budget, handed Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore a two-year show cause order and suspended him the first game of the 2026 season, and put Michigan on four years probation, the NCAA announced on Aug. 15.

Michigan already self-imposed a two-game suspension for Moore for the 2025 season.

The fine for the Wolverines also includes a sum equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing from the 2025 and 2026 seasons, as well as 10% of the cost of scholarships awarded in the football program during the 2025-26 academic year. According to ESPN, the total from all of the fines is expected to exceed $20 million.

The NCAA gave Harbaugh, who coached the Wolverines from 2015-2023, a 10-year show cause, which will take effect Aug. 7, 2028, when the four-year show cause he was given from a separate NCAA investigation ends.

MORE: What is a show-cause order? Everything to know about Michigan punishment

"The scouting scheme and recruiting violations in the football program demonstrate that Harbaugh violated the principles of head coach responsibility. Harbaugh did not embrace or enforce a culture of compliance during his tenure, and his program had a contentious relationship with Michigan's compliance office, leading coaches and staff to disregard NCAA rules," the NCAA said in its infractions decision. "For the scouting violations that occurred during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Harbaugh failed to demonstrate that he adequately promoted compliance or monitored his program. Harbaugh is also automatically responsible for the scouting and recruiting violations that occurred after Jan. 1, 2023."

The announcement also said Harbaugh "failed to cooperate" during the investigation.

Connor Stalions, the former Michigan staff at the center of the sign-stealing scandal, was levied an eight-year show cause. Stalions resigned from his position at Michigan in November 2023 and has been out of college athletics in an official capacity since.

Contributing: Craig Meyer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jim Harbaugh sidesteps question on Michigan's NCAA punishment

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