The Los Angeles Chargers made waves yesterday by announcing that they were going to hire Jim Harbaugh as their next head coach. Harbaugh is arguably at the peak of his coaching career, having just won the college football national championship with the Michigan Wolverines. Considering the allegations that the Michigan program has surrounding it, Harbaugh’s move could be seen as similar to one notable coach.
Jim Harbaugh Following Pete Carroll?
Before coaching the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll was arguably the best college football coach in the sport. He led the USC Trojans to a decade of dominance, including at least a share of two national championships. However, that all changed by the end of the 2000s.
Pete Carroll left the program at the end of the 2009 season to go to the NFL. He announced that he would take the Seattle Seahawks head coach position in January 2010. Well, about five months later, the NCAA announced that there would be sanctions against the USC football program.
The official punishment was due to a “lack of institutional control” by the program. It centered around inappropriate benefits given to star RB Reggie Bush. As a result, USC ended up being banned from bowl games for the next two seasons. Plus, USC had to vacate a large portion of the wins they secured during Carroll’s tenure.
Michigan Wolverines Punishment Coming?
There is reason to believe that Michigan could be hit with similar sanctions before the 2024 college football season begins. A big reason is that the rest of the college football world has already targeted them.
Reports revealed that Ohio State may have hired a private investigator to expose this. Plus, an anonymous member of the TCU coaching staff revealed that they knew Michigan was stealing signs before their meeting in the College Football Playoff a year prior. As a result, TCU used Michigan’s alleged sign-stealing against them, creating fake signals to get the best of the Wolverines.
The Big Ten suspended Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season. Despite this, Michigan personnel came together and held down the fort until Harbaugh returned. However, because of the sign-stealing allegations, many fans believe that Michigan’s championship is tainted.
Should the Los Angeles Chargers Care?
Even if Michigan does get hit with sanctions, this is unlikely to follow Harbaugh to the NFL. Carroll was able to continue coaching with the Seahawks when this happened to USC. He also went on to have a great coaching career with Seattle.
On top of this, Carroll led the Seahawks to their first and only Super Bowl title in franchise history. This came after having success at the college level. Now, the Chargers hope to have the same thing happen to them with Harbaugh.
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