Free Republic

Two things have become apparent since the NCAA investigation into the Michigan football program became public knowledge nearly two weeks ago. The first is that Connor Stalions, a low-level staff member within the football program, pushed the boundaries of scouting future opponents and likely broke NCAA regulations in the process. The second is that, in a rush to capitalize on the gold mine that has become this ongoing saga in Ann Arbor, members of both the local and national media have exposed themselves as a group who place a higher value on analytics than they do on accuracy. The steady...

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh reportedly will be suspended by the program following self-imposed sanctions. Harbaugh had been facing a four-game suspension from the NCAA, but negotiations collapsed seemingly at the 11th hour. It now appears UM will attempt to cut off the NCAA Committee on Infractions before it can get involved. The program will suspend Harbaugh for all three non-conference games, according to multiple Monday afternoon reports. No official announcement has come from the university. If the reported suspension decision holds, Harbaugh will miss games against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green, and the star coach will then return...

If Jim Harbaugh is indeed staying with Michigan football for 2023, per his statement on Thursday afternoon, he’ll apparently have to deal with a Level I violation of NCAA regulations. The Detroit Free Press has confirmed that Michigan is expected to receive an official notice of allegations from the NCAA soon, charging the program with four Level II violations — those deemed “more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage” according to a description adopted in 2019 — and Harbaugh himself with a Level I violation — a “severe breach of conduct”...

A common complaint that abortion enthusiasts have is that pro-life advocates never lift a finger to help single mothers in need. That’s a load of nonsense, and Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh is providing yet another example of how ridiculous this narrative is. In an interview conducted Saturday at in Muskegon, Michigan during the Maize n’ Blue’s summer tour of the state, Harbaugh told ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski that if anyone within his family or program has a child they will not be able to support after it was born, he and his family would adopt the child to prevent...

University of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh is facing calls for his termination after he went public with his pro-life views. Harbaugh is a devout Catholic and said that “I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born.” The response has been overwhelming and furious, but it is unlikely that Harbaugh (who just signed signed a 5-year, $36.7 million contract) will be canned. It is an interesting comparison to the successful campaign recently to force a NFL coach to withdraw his comments about Jan. 6th. Yet, if critics had their way, both coaches would be fired...

ORLANDO, Florida — They say elephants never forget. Well, neither does Nick Saban. In No. 9 Alabama's 35-16 Citrus Bowl win over No. 17 Michigan, Saban's Crimson Tide scored a touchdown in the game's final minute. At the time, the Crimson Tide commanded a 12-point lead. Football fans were quick to debate whether or not Saban ran the score up on purpose, digging up an old rivalry between the five-time national champion and Harbaugh.

Jim Harbaugh was hired, at great cost and with towering fanfare, to bring back the bygone days of Michigan football. He’s done it. Just not the way anyone envisioned. After the latest offensive debacle — another Harbaughcle, if you will — the Wolverines have their first four-game losing streak since the Rich Rodriguez Era and the 2009 season. Nobody in maize and blue has ever wanted to put Harbaugh and Rich-Rod in the same sentence, yet here we are. You might have thought Brady Hoke Era was bad, and you’d be right — but at least Hoke never lost four...

The 2-6 San Francisco 49ers are benching quarterback Colin Kaepernick and starting Blaine Gabbert this weekend against the Falcons, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday. Niners head coach Jim Tomsula said earlier on Monday that he was "evaluating everything." Later in the day, Schefter reported that San Francisco had traded veteran tight end Vernon Davis to the Denver Broncos for a 2016 7th-round draft pick and 6th round picks in 2016 and 2017. Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 and the NFC Championship Game in 2013, is having the worst season of his career. He's thrown...

1. 2015 San Francisco 49ers On this list we have seen examples of great players retiring suddenly in their prime, losing big-time players in free agency, the stunning departure of top coaches at or near their peak and legal troubles bringing down elite talents. The 49ers had a combination of all of those factors this offseason, I couldn't find another example of a team having so many various factors resulting in so many huge hits to the roster: Coach Jim Harbaugh was chased off to Michigan, guard Mike Iupati, running back Frank Gore and others departed in free agency, offensive...

Jim Harbaugh ended the 49ers' eight-year playoff drought in his first season. In year two, San Francisco made its first Super Bowl appearance since 1994. Despite his success, any warm feelings between the head coach and his players went away quickly. "He does a great job of giving you that spark, that initial boom," 49ers offensive lineman Alex Boone says on an upcoming episode of HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumble," according to ProFootballTalk. "But after a while, you just want to kick his.... He just keeps pushing you, and you're like, 'Dude, we got over the mountain. Stop. Let...

The perpetrator was a liberal activist and decorated campus Muslim leader who said American Sniper promoted violence.Is the University of Michigan a hostile place for Muslim students—or just a hostile place for freethinkers? Zeinab Khalil, a recent UM graduate, Muslim, and progressive activist who won numerous distinctions during her time on campus, including an award named for Martin Luther King, Jr., thinks it’s the former. A UM group’s decision to screen the film American Sniper offended the sensibilities of some Muslims, including Khalil, who claimed on Twitter that the campus “is already a hostile place for Arab/Muslim students. In one...

As a lifelong Michigan fan who grew up with Jim Harbaugh as his favorite Wolverine, I didnÂ’t think my man-crush on the Maize-and-BlueÂ’s new football coach could get any bigger than it already is. The guy hasnÂ’t even coached a game yet in Ann Arbor, but Captain America hosannas, like the ones he earned as quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, are already raining down on him after he beat the toughest opponent of them all this week. Political correctness. Faced with the douchetastic dumb-arsery of campus victimologists, who felt a showing of the movie American Sniper would be insensitive to...

According to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, his team would have been watching 'American Sniper' no matter what Michigan's student life department had done this week. MY INSERT - (Harbaugh's Tweet)Michigan Football will watch "American Sniper"! Proud of Chris Kyle & Proud to be an American & if that offends anybody then so be it! — Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) April 9, 2015

University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh announced on Twitter Wednesday night that his team will hold a screening of “American Sniper” after the school pulled a showing when some students called it “anti-Muslim.” Shortly after coach Harbaugh’s tweet, the University of Michigan reversed course and said their decision to cancel the screening was wrong. See the rest of story here....

Newly hired University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh will make three times as much money if his football players hit their academic goals than if Harbaugh is named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. MLive did a story on Harbaugh’s contract that states the coach will earn $150,000 if the players hit certain academic bench marks. Harbaugh will get $50,000 if he’s picked as the league’s top coach. The academic bonus is 3 percent of Harbaugh’s $5 million annual salary. ForTheRecord says: Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers who are evaluated and given the highest rating of “highly effective”...

The University of Michigan’s decision this week to commit at least $40 million to Jim Harbaugh over the next seven years raised quite a few eyebrows. Forty million dollars — $5 million a year to start, along with a $2 million signing bonus — for a football coach? Can jock-Armageddon, when the entire bloated-with-corporate-dollars sports world explodes, be far behind? Actually, Armageddon has already pretty much come and gone in college athletics. The attitude of many players at the most visible schools was summed up by a tweet sent two years ago by Cardale Jones, who will start at quarterback...

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has reportedly accepted Michigan's offer to return to his alma mater and become the Wolverines' next head coach, according to CSNBayArea.com, which reports that Harbaugh will be announced at a press conference in Ann Arbor on Tuesday morning. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report and writer John U. Bacon, author of several books about Michigan football, also reported on Saturday that Harbaugh was expected to accept the Michigan job.

The San Francisco 49ers will reportedly fire head coach Jim Harbaugh "within two days" of the end of the team's season, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports. Harbaugh has one year remaining on the five-year, $25 million deal he signed in 2011.

I'm watching the 49er San Diego and the QB is doing the call at the line and much the way Peyton Manning yells out "OMAHA!", Karpernik calls out "OBAMA!" I had to run it back 3 or 4 times to make sure.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. That's Alex, not Jefferson, Smith. San Francisco's former pinata was 17 of 24 for 200 yards and one TD against the Redskins in another efficient, workmanlike effort for the victorious 49ers. Smith is apparently concentrating on not being the reason why the 49ers lose this season, on not making mistakes. It's working. Perhaps by the end of the year he'll be intent on being a big reason why they win. Whether he feels the need to carry the team on his shoulders or not--and Noman hopes he never does if it takes him out of...