Michigan football reportedly meets with the NCAA, no new evidence
![ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 14: Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines is seen on the sideline during the second half of a college football game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Michigan Stadium on October 14, 2023 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Michigan Wolverines won the game 52-7. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images) ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 14: Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines is seen on the sideline during the second half of a college football game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Michigan Stadium on October 14, 2023 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Michigan Wolverines won the game 52-7. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/8c3ba737b367dfe595581d0654ab156a34eff02c1e38bf8fda21cbbe1b271f1d.jpg)
The NCAA paid a visit to the Michigan football program on Thursday but there’s no new evidence and all around, it seems like good news.
The rumored meeting between the NCAA and Michigan football happened on Thursday according to multiple reports.
It was reported that the NCAA was supposed to meet with some coaches but that didn’t happen because there was practice and also some coaches were out recruiting according to the Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider.
Reached out to multiple sources about reports of NCAA being on #Michigan's campus to meet with coaches -- I'm told no interviews have happened, and coaches hit the road recruiting after practice yesterday, so no meetings with them are on the immediate horizon either
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) October 26, 2023
Here’s what Chris Balas of The Wolverine has reported according to his sources:
"They’ve (Michigan) been presented with no evidence at this point that the Michigan coaches, including Jim Harbaugh, were complicit in the Stalions operation. As such, one source said, they are “99 percent sure” Harbaugh will be allowed to coach his team for the rest of the year, and that there will be no punishment pertaining to this season.”"
This is the biggest news to come out of all of this. That doesn’t mean that more evidence won’t come out. In fact, there have been more rumors on the message boards and it wouldn’t be shocking if more came out about Stalions.
However, the thing Michigan football fans have been wondering is if there would be any type of punishment this season. That always seemed unlikely. The NCAA hasn’t even served notice of the allegations relating to “Burger Gate” and Michigan would have 90 days to respond, just like it would have 90 days to respond to these allegations.
The NCAA also has serious questions to answer about the information it got from this outside firm, which seems to have been hired by Ohio State or another rival. The NCAA needs to know and be transparent about where it got that information.
Therefore, the idea that the Big Ten or the NCAA would somehow ban Michigan from the postseason based on evidence that could have easily been funded by rivals, is insane.
We’ll see if more facts come out but if there is no proof that the coaching staff accessed that drive or whatever the Washington Post referenced (in the most vague and unclear way possible — was is it a flash drive, a computer hack, a Google doc, what?) then there won’t be a major punishment.
And if Michigan football goes undefeated, it’s going to be hard for the haters to pin all of the success the past two years on cheating.