Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh has called for criminal charges to be brought after two of his players were allegedly attacked in the tunnel after their win over rivals the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday.
Shortly after the Wolverines' 29-7 home win at The Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan players Ja'Den McBurrows and Gemon Green were allegedly attacked in the tunnel, with several static cameras and eye-witnesses capturing the shocking incident on video.
A Michigan player appears to be struck several times by a Spartans player swinging a helmet at him, and other clips show him being tossed to the ground amid a crowd of Spartans players. Harbaugh said Green, also a defensive back, was punched by an opposition player in the tunnel after the number four-ranked Wolverines beat their in-state rivals for the first time since 2019.
"Two of our players were assaulted," the former San Francisco 49ers head coach said on Saturday. "I saw on the one video. Ten on one. It was pretty bad. It needs to be investigated."
Michigan State University head coach Mel Tucker announced on Sunday four players – Khary Crump, Tank Brown, Zion Young and Angelo Grose – have been suspended indefinitely.
An investigation into the incident is underway, University of Michigan deputy police chief Melissa Overton confirmed, with Michigan State police and the university's athletic department also involved. “The investigation takes some time,” she said Sunday.
Addressing the incident at his press conference on Monday, Harbaugh made his stance clear.
"We have an ongoing police investigation," he said in a press conference. "What happened in the tunnel was egregious, sickening to watch the videos, the ones that are on social media and also the ABC tunnel cam which is at a higher elevation and shows much more of what took place.
"Those are sickening to watch. There needs to be accountability, there needs to be a full, thorough and timely investigation.
"Coming at this from the perspective of being a parent and these young men are entrusted to me and our programme by their families and we have a responsibility to each player to treat them like our own and I treat that responsibility very seriously.
"An apology will not get the job done in this instance. There should be serious consequences for the many individuals that are called for.
"On behalf of the 2022 Michigan Football Team, our players, coaches and staff of our university, this has been a very traumatic experience for everybody, especially for Ja'Den and Gemon, and we're going to support them and their families in every possible way."
Michigan and Michigan State share one of the biggest rivalries in college football. They are rivals in the Big Ten Conference and Saturday's clash was the primetime game of the week broadcast nationally on ABC.
Michigan State president Samuel L. Stanley apologised on behalf of the university for the events in the tunnel.
"I'm extremely saddened by this incident and the unacceptable behaviour depicted by members of our football program," he said. "On behalf of Michigan State University, my heartfelt apology to the University of Michigan and the student athletes who were injured.
"There is no provocation that could justify the behaviour we are seeing on the videos. Rivalries can be intense but should never be violent."
