Jim Harbaugh’s future at the Los Angeles Chargers could be in trouble. The NCAA on Friday fined Michigan tens of millions of dollars and suspended coach Sherrone Moore for three games in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. Several current and former staff members are facing a show-cause penalty, which will ban them from the NCAA for several years.
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh answers questions after a preseason NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints(AP)
Connor Stalions, the former defensive analyst at the center of the controversy, received an eight-year show-cause order. Jim Harbaugh, a former head coach, was hit with a 10-year show-cause penalty that will begin on August 7, 2028, after he completes a current four-year order tied to a separate rules violation. This will ban him from the NCAA till 2038.
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Denard Robinson, who previously served as assistant director of player personnel, was given a three-year show-cause order.
What is the NCAA’s show-cause penalty?
A show-cause order is one of the NCAA’s most severe penalties for major rules violations, effectively tying a coach’s infractions to them for a set period. It mandates specific restrictions that follow the individual to any future coaching job. For Jim Harbaugh, the ruling bars him from all athletically related activities during the penalty, effectively sidelining him from college coaching for the next 13 years.
Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers role in danger?
Harbaugh has been leading the Los Angeles Chargers. NCAA rules don’t directly apply to NFL roles. However, neither the team nor the league has commented on the show-cause penalty yet.
The NFL operates under its own Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and league policies, which are independent of NCAA regulations. The NFL’s Player and Coach Conduct Policy governs discipline, focusing on personal conduct and league-specific violations, with no reference to NCAA penalties.
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The league, however, has imposed its own sanctions in the past. In 2023, the NFL warned that Harbaugh’s Chargers role would not be a ‘safe harbor’ for him.
“The NFL is unlikely to make itself a safe harbor for Harbaugh to escape what could be substantial NCAA discipline, league sources say, raising the strong possibility Harbaugh would need to serve some or all of any possible suspension he could face in college if he returns to the pros,” NFL Insiders reported two years ago.