“The captain goes down with the ship“, is a maritime tradition that states that a sea captain holds the final responsibility for both his ship and everyone on it. But when it comes to the Michigan Wolverines, the captain chooses to go to the NFL and leave his ship drowning for his errors. This is what Jim Harbaugh did when it came to the sign-stealing scandal and instead of facing the music, chose to join the LA Chargers in the NFL.

Jim Harbaugh, the former HC for the Michigan Wolverines, was held in high regard among the world of college football for everything that he did for the team in Ann Arbor. During his 9-year career, he led the Wolverines to their 3rd national championship, which hadn’t occurred in the past 26 years. As his crimes and cheating scandals were brought to light, he chose to pass the baton to Sherrone Moore and flee to the NFL. Unfortunately for Moore, the newest HC might be in more trouble than Harbaugh since he’s no longer in the vicinity of college football anymore.

Sherrone Moore will face more issues than Harbaugh for the sign-stealing controversies

Though Sherrone Moore seems to be in hot waters at the moment, it looks like Jim Harbaugh might be in the clear until and unless he chooses to come back to the NFL. Sherrone Moore is alleged to be a known conspirator in the crimes of Connor Stalions and faces suspension from the team, as per NCAA reports.

Whereas Harbaugh is accused of not cooperating because he denied the authorities’ request to view significant messages and phone records from his phone. Yet, since he’s with the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL, he faces no real danger at the moment. As per the NCAA’s draft, Harbaugh could be slapped with a “show-cause” restriction if he ever chooses to come back to college sports but his dreams of pursuing a Super Bowl remain intact currently. With that being said, let’s take a deeper look into how Harbaugh was an accomplice to the controversy and how the NCAA punished the former head coach.

Is Harbaugh completely innocent or was he leading the operation?

“Off-the-field issues — we are innocent. We stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent and I’d just like to point that out.” These are the words that Harbaugh addressed the fans with after the team’s glorious win over the Washington Huskies and winning the national championship. Though Harbaugh was punished by the NCAA with a three-game ban, his stance on their innocence remained unchanged and there might be a lot of truth behind it too.

Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the final 3 games of the season for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy in relation to the illicit scouting operation that was being led by Connor Stalions. The DOA doesn’t have any evidence to prove that Harbaugh was involved in the scandal firsthand or that he had any idea if it was happening. Finally, the NCAA’s draft states that the former HC failed to monitor or actively try to find any “red flags” within the management. Thus, Harbaugh seems to be safe from any real harm to his coaching career while the same cannot be said for Sherrone Moore who is being alleged of being in conversation with Stalions himself regarding the operation.