The Michigan Wolverines took a page out of the 2017 Houston Astros’ playbook, and just like the disgraced World Series ‘champions,’ they are still contending with the fallout of that decision. The program is facing tens of millions of dollars in fines, and its current head coach, Sherrone Moore, is being suspended as a result of the sign-stealing scandal that occurred during Jim Harbaugh’s tenure with the program.
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Despite the NCAA claiming to have an “overwhelming” evidence against Harbaugh and his program, the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers appears to have escaped all forms of punishment from the NFL. According to Urban Meyer, that’s a problem, or at least, that’s how his initial comments were perceived.
While speaking on a podcast, the former head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars alluded to the fact that Harbaugh going unpunished directly contradicts the precedent that was set forth by the NFL years ago. Meyer referenced that, “When [Jim] Tressel was fired by Ohio State and he was given a suspension, Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that we’re going to honor that suspension.”
During his most recent discussion with Colin Cowherd, however, Meyer suggested that his comments had been severely misinterpreted by both fans and the media. “I never said that,” Meyer explained after it was noted that he had directly called upon the league to suspend Harbaugh.
“A friend sent me that quote… That was a typical media guy saying that. No… Of course not. I didn’t say that and I actually even said that I don’t think it will, but I threw that out there because that’s a fact. And it was made clear that the NFL wanted to at least respect the decision that was made by the NCAA… I never said that, but that’s typical… That was never said.”
When it comes to the scandal itself, Meyer said that he’s seen numerous individuals attempting to downplay Michigan’s offense, which is something that he does not appreciate. There’s no such thing as a misdemeanor in the game of football, and there are no gray areas when it comes to acts of cheating.
Simply put, if you did the crime, you must do the time, and according to Meyer, what the Wolverines did was nothing short of a “huge deal.”
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh come on, what’s the big deal?’ Well, if it wasn’t a big deal, Colin, why would they risk their reputation or careers and a $30-million dollar fine for the University of Michigan? I’ll answer that question, it’s a huge deal… I can’t over emphasize it. Of course it is… Any advantage that’s gotten illegally, that’s a major deal.”
Meyer himself is expected to return to his usual role as analyst with Fox Sports, although he has admitted that various programs have reached out to him throughout the past several months. It’s hard to completely rule out a return to the sidelines for him, but he’s also stated that he would rather “step on a rusty nail” than deal with agents of any kind, so it seems relatively safe to assume that he’s no longer interested in putting on the headset.
