As the college football world awaits the NCAA’s ruling against Michigan in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing saga, there’s at least one prominent voice advocating for mercy for the Wolverines.
In a letter sent to the NCAA’s committee on infractions, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wrote that Michigan should receive no further punishment for the alleged misdeeds, according to a report on July 21 from ESPN, which added that the letter was read at an infractions committee meeting in early June.
Petitti argued in the letter that the Big Ten had already addressed the matter sufficiently when it suspended then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season, a run that included wins at Penn State and against Ohio State. The Wolverines went on to win the national championship that season, the program’s first title since 1997. Weeks after that, Harbaugh left his alma mater to become the head coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.
The NCAA has charged Michigan with 11 rules violations, including six Level I infractions, which are the most serious misdeeds in the NCAA rule book.
The Big Ten confirmed to ESPN that Petitti sent the letter and would have read it in person, but was recovering from hip surgery at the time.
Petitti’s letter is a new wrinkle in what has been an occasionally strained relationship between himself and one of the Big Ten’s preeminent members.
Michigan vehemently contested Petitti’s suspension of Harbaugh, which was handed down in November 2023. The university went so far as to file for an emergency temporary restraining order against the Big Ten in Washtenaw County Court, which would have allowed Harbaugh to continue coaching.
The university eventually withdrew the request, but the ordeal led to several awkward moments in the weeks that followed. Petitti didn’t attend the Wolverines’ win in Ann Arbor against Ohio State, a matchup of top-five teams in arguably the fiercest rivalry in the sport, and was booed when he handed the Big Ten championship game trophy to Michigan.