Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh won’t coach the Wolverines in Saturday’s Big Ten game at Penn State on Saturday afternoon.
Harbaugh had been suspended Friday for the remainder of the regular season by conference commissioner Tony Petitti, but the school made a legal filing later in the day in hopes of receiving a temporary restraining order. That order will not come down Saturday, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN and Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit Free Press, meaning Harbaugh cannot be present at Beaver Stadium when the No. 3 Wolverines (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) face the No. 10 Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1) at noon ET. Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore will serve as acting head coach in Harbaugh’s absence.
“We look forward to presenting our case next week where we intend to demonstrate that the Big Ten has not acted legally or fairly,” Michigan said in a statement, per ESPN’s Heather Dinich.
Unless a judge eventually grants a temporary restraining order to supersede Petitti’s punishment for the school’s involvement in an alleged sign-stealing scheme, Harbaugh also will miss his team’s games at Maryland on Nov. 18 and against No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 25.
A hearing to address Michigan’s request for a temporary restraining order will be held Friday in Washtenaw (Mich.) County court, per Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde.
The NCAA is in the midst of investigating the scandal, which has rocked the college football world. The Big Ten stepped in and imposed its suspension despite the school’s claims that due process has been circumvented.
The conference maintains that the Wolverines violated its sportsmanship policy by conducting “impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”
