Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was triumphant for his team’s win Saturday even as he sat out on suspension over the growing sign-stealing controversy in which his university is embroiled.
Even though he was watching the game from afar, Harbaugh crowed over the win the Wolverines carved out and reportedly delivered high praise.
“Watching this, I was thinking, ‘This has gotta be America’s team,'” he reportedly said, according to Bleacher Report.
Harbaugh was suspended on Friday, causing his team to lose his services for the last three regular games of the season.
The university immediately asked a judge to reverse the three-game ban, but no word had come from the courts by Saturday to allow Harbaugh to participate in the bout with No. 10 Penn State.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh (Getty Images)
Oddly, the NCAA said that it was not punishing Harbaugh with its suspension.
“This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh,” the Big Ten said last week. “It is a sanction against the University that, under the extraordinary circumstance presented by this offensive conduct, best fits the violation.”
Wolverine players clearly feel it to be an unjust ruling regardless of the reason for the suspension. And some displayed their loyalty to the coach after beating Penn State on Saturday.
Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, who has been handed the head coaching duties while Harbaugh serves his suspension, also gave Harbaugh a shout-out.
“We’re one. It made us stronger,” Corum told the media. “Obviously, we wanted Coach Harbaugh to be here, but we did it for him today. We’ve been going through a lot lately, but it’s only brought us closer together.”
Harbaugh attempted to stave off further punishment in August by offering a self-imposed suspension from his duties.
But suspicions over the school’s attempts at sign-stealing grew as reports that now former staffer Connor Stalions was seen at dozens of Big Ten games and was even seen in video stalking the sidelines at some of them.
Stalions, a low-level Michigan football staffer at the center of an NCAA investigation, eventually quit his job at Michigan after being handed a hefty suspension.
Despite all the accusations, Michigan has fully denied that there was any official campaign to record other teams’ signs.
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