The NCAA apparently wasn’t done with former Michigan and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.
On Wednesday, the NCAA handed down a one-year suspension and a four-year show cause order for “unethical conduct and failure to cooperate with the (NCAA) membership’s infraction process,” per On3 Sports .
The punishment pertains to reported recruiting violations that occurred in the dead period during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021.
But while the punishment is no laughing matter, many are pointing out that it’s too little, too late since Harbaugh is already gone from college football and unlikely to return. Harbaugh has already led the Wolverines to a national title and so long as the NCAA doesn’t strip them of that title, the impact really won’t be felt.
As a result, fans are already joking that the entire punishment is pointless:
“This is like being suspended from a school you are no longer enrolled at,” J.D. PicKell of On3 Sports wrote.
“High school principal tells graduated student that he has detention if he ever decides to re enroll,” another user joked.
“When your boss finds the pile of (expletive) you left in his desk but you’ve already filled out the direct deposit information for your new job,” joked a third.
Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd even led with his show proclaiming that the punishment is pointless:
“It means nothing. Harbaugh is never going back to college football.”
— @ColinCowherd on NCAA announcing four-year-show-cause order for Michigan’s former head coach pic.twitter.com/WapZ3LQIEm
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 7, 2024
The NCAA may have enforced its rules, but nobody is being punished in any real sense. Certainly not like he was on multiple occasions last year.
Was this punishment as pointless as everyone seems to say?
Related: Breaking: Big Ten Announces Punishment For Jim Harbaugh, Michigan