Nearly one year after Michigan football received a draft notice of allegations (NOA) from the NCAA around alleged Level II recruiting violations − which later spurred a Level I violation against coach Jim Harbaugh directly − the program has officially received an allegation of wrongdoing.
U-M Director of Public Affairs Kim Broekhuizen, and Associate Athletic Director Kurt Svoboda both confirmed on Wednesday with the Free Press that the university has received the notice.
They received a draft NOA in January and the Wolverines are said to have acknowledged their impermissible Level II violations − which include analysts serving in on-field coaching capacities, coaches watching players work out over video chats, and messaging recruits during a COVID-19 dead period − however Harbaugh has maintained his innocence around his Level I charge, that he misled investigators.
He really doesn’t think he did anything wrong,” a person close to the situation told the Free Press earlier this fall.
At one point, the discourse around the subject got so out of hand, Derrick Crawford, the NCAA’s vice president for hearing operations, posted on social media, “the Michigan infractions case is related to impermissible on and off-campus recruiting during the COVID-19 dead period and impermissible coaching activities — not a cheeseburger
Now that Michigan brass − President Santa Ono, Manuel, and the U-M compliance department − have received the NOA, they have a 90-day window to respond, in writing, to any charges that have been presented and share thoughts on their merit.
The NCAA then has 60 days to respond to any potential U-M response.
At one point this summer it seemed as though U-M may wrap this up. It had reportedly agreed to a negotiated resolution with the NCAA that Harbaugh would be suspended four games and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and tight ends coach Grant Newsome each one, but that fell through shortly before Harbaugh took the stage for Big Ten Media Days in late July at Lucas Oil Stadium.
To respond, in what U-M movers and shakers certainly hoped would come off as an act of good faith, university higher-ups opted to self-impose a three-game suspension for Harbaugh to begin the regular season