In the first signal that Jim Harbaugh could be on shaky ground with his own school, the University of Michigan reportedly has rescinded a lucrative contract offer toward a head coach embroiled in scandal.
According to a Wall Street Journal piece published Sunday night, the university has pulled an offer that would have made Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten.
It is unclear exactly when the contract was floated, but Michigan is in the middle of an 8-0 season with serious championship hopes as Harbaugh has brought the school into the land of powerhouses.
But the offer reportedly has been retracted amid sign-stealing allegations.
An athletic department spokesman told the Journal that the school does not comment on employment contracts.
Harbaugh echoed the sentiment during a news conference in Michigan on Monday, but he did dispute the characterization that a contract offer has been rescinded.
“I wouldn’t say that’s accurate,” Harbaugh told reporters before stating several times that he and the team are trying to focus on the games. “It’s a one-track mind that I’m modeling, and I see it throughout the program.”
Harbaugh and Michigan are at the center of an NCAA investigation into alleged sign-stealing that became publicly known Oct. 19.
The allegations involve whether Michigan violated rules that prohibit teams from scouting future opponents in person, a practice that has been banned in college football since 1994.
One Michigan staffer — Connor Stalions, who has been suspended — paid a former Division III coach to attend and record future opponents’ games and sidelines, ESPN reported late last week.
Until this scandal, Harbaugh — a former Michigan quarterback who returned to his alma mater in 2015 — had finally appeared to restore the Wolverines to past glory. Now his future looks to be in jeopardy, and not just at the school: If Harbaugh flees Michigan and jumps back to the NFL, it is possible Harbaugh could serve “some or all of any possible suspension he could face in college,” NFL.com reported this weekend.
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