And someone comes from the dark to save Jim Harbaugh. Paul Finebaum back on August 6th was quite open with his take. I would like to bow at the feet of Jim Harbaugh,” Finebaum had said while claiming that Harbaugh was released scot-free. Hell, Finebaum even went on to claim that “NCAA is powerless” and whatever they do they still won’t win against the lawyers that Harbaugh & Co. will use.

Amidst all of this, Colin Cowherd has come out to defend Harbaugh. On August 6th on the show Herd, Colin was quite direct with his view. “This is a witch hunt. There is nothing in this ruling that proves Harbaugh knew any of it,” he mentioned. There is some truth to these folks. Colin goes on to explain that Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and DB coach Steve Clinkscale, who have come from the Wolverines, were charged with violations. Colin termed the entire thing a “Saturday night sketch” because the charges by the NCAA explain that Clinkscale is accused of verifying a recruit on Instagram. Colin further goes on to explain that these charges make no sense because the other charge was that the coaches were texting sophomores. “You mean the same ones which Ohio State or Georgia….could pay 600,000 to do legally,” Colin retorts.

“You can pay players. Park Lambos, but cannot verify IG accounts?” Colin asks. He finally ends his statement by keeping it real and saying that the ruling does not show/highlight that Harbaugh knew anything about the entire scene. However, this brings up a different discussion. How can you, being the HC of your program, not know what your staff are out there trying to scout opponents? The math is not math(ing) chief. And this also somewhat reminds us of the Kirby Smart situation, which was on full blast last week.

Two sides of the same coin

August 1st saw Kirby Smart being dragged through the mud by fans and analysts alike. With RaRa Thomas getting arrested on major charges, Smart was accused of breeding a “crime culture” at the Bulldogs. This does kind of remind us of what Harbaugh is currently going through. While Jim has come forward and denied that he wasn’t involved in the violations, people have called him out claiming that how could he not know what his staff was doing.

Smart had received the same sharp end of the stick. Aaron Torrest from Fox Sports threw jabs at Smart over the entire scene.“Kirby Smart it’s time to actually hold your guys responsible a little bit,” Torres had mentioned. While Smart and Bulldogs had dismissed RaRa because of his actions, the main question that arises from both scenarios is; Is the HC supposed to know/control everything at their camp?