Bob Stoops Explains Why Punishment Of Jim Harbaugh Is 'Nothing Burger'. Should Michigan Take The Banner Down?
The former Oklahoma coach had strong words about the NCAA's punishment of the Wolverines was pointless.
Former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops doesn't have all the answers regarding how the NCAA should've punished Michigan for their NCAA infractions related to the Connor Stalions ordeal. But he does know that it's cheating, and for the one's that want to make it out not to be a big deal, then why'd they do it?
One of the most discussed stories in college athletics over the past two years has centered around the sign-stealing case at Michigan, which has led to Jim Harbaugh receiving another show-cause penalty, along with Connor Stalions.
But the reality is that none of that matters for the now former Michigan coach, who will never return to college football, and still gets the opportunity to call himself a ‘national champion’, thanks to the Wolverines 2023 CFP title.
The fallout from the NCAA handing down penalties to Michigan has been all over the place, with a majority agreeing that the current roster should not be penalized for the actions of the 2023 team. But, that doesn't mean Michigan should be able to just move on from the incident, which will probably take a while since they've now appealed the NCAA's decision.
Appearing on OutKick's Hot Mic with Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow on Monday morning, former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops was asked his opinion on the NCAA's punishment of Michigan, and also former coach Jim Harbaugh.
"In typical NCAA, late to the party, late to everything, not enough. Just encourages people to cheat," Stoops told the Hot Mic crew. "In the end, that banner is gonna hang, Jim Harbaugh is not coming back to college football, so who cares. So, that’s a nothing penalty. Anyway, it’s cheating at the highest level, and it’s wrong.
"No they don’t, no they don’t. I was involved in college football for a long time, never heard of such a thing. No one I’ve ever been with. No, everyone doesn't do it. I never did it, nobody else I know did it. Sure, if I look across the field and recognize a signal with my naked eye, sure, hell yea, that’s my job."
What Should The Punishment Be For Michigan?
While the opinions vary, there are plenty of Wolverine fans that will go to the grave under the mindset that plenty of other college football teams are doing the same kind of advanced scouting.
Bob Stoops was asked his opinion on the attitude of some Michigan fans that are using the ole ‘well everyone does it’, as a way to justify what Connor Stalions pulled off in Ann Arbor.
"But filming people, having them on film, scouting them ahead of time, studying it all, no, no, no," Stoops noted. "That’s flat out cheating, and I’ve never known anyone who’ve i’ve been in the building with to do anything like that."
As for what a punishment could've looked like for Michigan, and whether their title will be tainted moving forward, Stoops made it clear that while players on the current roster should not be punished with a bowl ban, maybe the championship banner should come down.
"I’m not much on penalizing people now for something that was done before," Bob Stoops noted. "I don’t know what they could do about what they did before. Maybe you take away the banner, I don’t know. Here’s what everyone wants to say that’s for Michigan, ‘Uh, it doesn’t really matter, who cares’. Ok, then why’d they do it? Tell me that."
Clearly this conversation is not going quietly into the night, given that Michigan is appealing the NCAA's decision, and college football fans will be talking about the 2023 season for years to come.
But, there's an opinion that the NCAA's punishment was pretty light, compared to how teams have been penalized in past years.
What do you think? Does Michigan deserve to have its championship banner taken down? Email me at Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com