BREAKING: Michigan Retaliates At Big Ten Suspension Of Jim Harbaugh By Filing Emergency Court Order To Let Him Coach Saturday

A meeting of the minds. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh arrives in State College, Pa., Friday and holds an impromptu meeting on the tarmac. (Ryan Parsons on X - @rjparsons9)

The games continue.

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in State College, Pennsylvania, on Friday afternoon as if for a game. Earlier Friday, the Big Ten Conference suspended him for Saturday's game at Penn State and Michigan's two remaining regular season games in light of his program's illegal scouting and sign stealing scandal.

But Jim Harbaugh and his camp remained hopeful Friday he would indeed coach his No. 3 Wolverines (9-0) against the No. 10 Nittany Lions (8-1) at noon on FOX. The Big Ten's suspension does allow Harbaugh to coach the team every day but game day, and attend all team functions.

"We intend to seek a court order, together with Coach Harbaugh, preventing this disciplinary action from taking effect," a statement from the University of Michigan said.

Later Friday, OutKick learned that Harbaugh and the Michigan Board of Trustees filed an emergency, ex parte motion for a temporary restraining order to let Harbaugh coach on Saturday. Harbaugh will learn if he will coach Saturday or not by late Friday night or early Saturday. Kickoff is at noon.

Case No. 23-001419 filed in the Washtenaw County Courthouse near Ann Arbor, Michigan, pits Harbaugh and the Board of Trustees against The Big Ten Conference and its commissioner, Tony Petitti.

Michigan Hopes Jim Harbaugh Still Coaches After Suspension

"The head football coach (of Michigan) shall not be present at the game venue on the dates of the games to which this disciplinary action applies," the last sentence of the Big Ten's statement on Harbaugh's suspension said earlier Friday.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh congratulates quarterback J.J. McCarthy after he threw a touchdown pass in win over Michigan State on Oct. 21 in East Lansing.

So, if Michigan's legal representation does not get a restraining order, Harbaugh will have to stay at the team hotel or watch the game somewhere other than Penn State's 106,572-seat Beaver Stadium. Unless, of course, he sneaks in with a disguise, as his former analyst Connor Stalions has done in past. Stalions was the kingpin of the scouting, sign stealing scheme that has Michigan in so much trouble.

Michigan's general counsel and Harbaugh's attorney Tom Mars are seeking a temporary restraining order from an available judge on Friday or Saturday. That would let Harbaugh coach Saturday. Whether that effort succeeds or not, Michigan attorneys and Mars will seek a more permanent order next week to try to let Harbaugh coach the Wolverines' remaining two games.

The Wolverines play at Maryland a week from Saturday and host No. 1 Ohio State (9-0) on Nov. 25 in the game of the year.

Michigan Criticizes Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitte's Ruling

"Like all members of the Big Ten Conference, we are entitled to a fair, deliberate, and thoughtful process to determine the full set of facts before a judgment is rendered," Michigan's opinion said. "Today's action by commissioner Tony Petitti disregards the conference's own handbook, violates basic tenets of due process, and sets an untenable precedent of assessing penalties before an investigation has been completed. We are dismayed at the commissioner's rush to judgment when there is an ongoing NCAA investigation - one in which we are fully cooperating!"

Michigan's opinion was not done. It went after Petitti's move on Veteran's Day.

"Commissioner Petitti's hasty action suggests that this is more about reacting to pressure from other conference members than a desire to apply the rules fairly and impartially," it continued. "By taking this action at this hour, the commissioner is personally inserting himself onto the sidelines and altering the level playing field that he is claiming to preserve. And, doing so on Veteran's Day - a court holiday to try to thwart the University from seeking immediate judicial relief is hardly a profile in impartiality."

Actually, I think it's a pretty good strategy by the Big Ten. Or maybe it just took the Big Ten office a very long time to weed through Michigan's voluminous, legalese-filled response it received late Wednesday. That was in response to the Big Ten's notice of incoming discipline.

Interesting that Michigan's lawyers used the term "level playing field," which is precisely why the Big Ten is penalizing Michigan - for cheating to avoid one.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh in happier times with Michigan president Santa J. Ono after winning the Big Ten title game last season over Purdue (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

As of Friday night, Jim Harbaugh was still not going to be coaching Michigan on Saturday.

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti Goes After Michigan

Here are pointed excerpts critical of Michigan from Petitti's 13-page letter to Michigan officials Friday that followed his suspension announcement of Harbaugh:

-The University’s November 8 response does not deny that the impermissible scheme occurred. Instead, it offers only procedural and technical arguments designed to delay accountability. The University also argues that because it believes that others are engaged in decoding signs, there must be nothing wrong with the University’s activities. In addition to impermissible activities of others being currently unsupported by facts, the University’s culpability is not dependent on the actions of other institutions."

-Enforcing the Sportsmanship Policy with appropriate discipline this season in light of the University’s established violations this season is thus of the utmost importance to protect the reputation of the Conference and its member institutions and to ensure that our competitions on the field are honorable and fair.

Tony Petitti, the Big Ten's commissioner, speaks at football media days in Indianapolis last July. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Petitti concluded the letter to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel with a pop. Much of Michigan's letter from Wednesday expounded on how punishment now and not later by the Big Ten would be so unprecedented.

But it is obvious that Petitti in turn concluded that wholesale rules breaking and cheating in Harbaugh's program was itself so unprecedented that the case needed a watershed moment of action. And that's what he did.

Good for Tony Petitti. He did not back down to Michigan's intimidation tactics, shrouded in legalese. Maybe that worked pre-Tony Petitti.

Not now.