If Jim Harbaugh And Staff Worked As Hard Strategizing As They Allegedly Do Stealing Signs, They Wouldn't Need To Steal Signs

You remember those kids in grade school going to great lengths and very small writing to cheat on a test?

They'd write key facts, notes or formulas on the back of the student's desk in front of them, or up and down the inside of their arm, or on a miniscule scrap of hidden paper.

They didn't realize that if they had just used all that time studying instead of preparing these exotic strategies, they would have done well on the test legitimately in the first place.

Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh Deep In Sign Stealing Scandal

Some did realize that, but they liked the outlaw nature of cheating and continued on. They did it because they could. The clandestine aspect was seductive. And they were beating the system by outsmarting it. Or so they thought, until they got caught.

Such appears to be the case with Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and what appears to be a very organized, systemic and formerly clandestine way to illegally scout future opponents and steal their signs.

According to various reports over the last week, Michigan had various football personnel at future opponents' games to gain sign and signal intel for future games. This Info-Gate, if you will, even allegedly included ball boys assigned to the other sideline. They would eavesdrop on play calls, then hold a ball in an agreed upon hand (right or left) for a pass play or a run.

These are kids, or very young adults involved in this organized cheating.

There is also traveling analyst Conor Stalions, who would covertly go to future opponents games in recent seasons and this season to decode opponent's signaling of plays. And according to reports, Michigan had other Stalions minions at games doing the same thing. Then at a Michigan game against that opponent, the analyst on steroids would stand next to the Michigan assistant coach signaling in the play. Obviously this can be very helpful toward an unfair advantage.

Other schools, such as TCU, caught on to Michigan's signal-gate. The NCAA was all over the Michigan football program just last week.

But the Michigan football staff members, whoever are the ones involved from the ball boy to the dog catcher and Harbaugh, didn't need to do all this work.

Had the coaches and staff involved used all those hours studying film and developing game plans instead of using it to steal signals, they wouldn't have needed to steal signals.

That is something a fly-by-night program would do. Then again, Michigan was a fly-by-night program before Harbaugh took over in 2015. The Wolverines finished 5-7 and 3-5 in the Big Ten in 2014 under coach Brody Hoke. In 2013, Hoke was 7-6 and 3-5. Under coach Rich Rodriguez, Michigan went 3-9, 5-7 and 7-6 from 2008-10.

How Far Into Harbaugh's Career Will NCAA Investigation Go?

Was Harbaugh stealing signs on arrival? He went 10-3 in his first two seasons in 2015 and '16. The Wolverines won double-digit games five times in Harbaugh's first eight years. He went 13-1 and 9-0 to win the Big Ten last year and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals. In 2021, Harbaugh also reached the playoffs at 13-1 and 9-0.

That kind of drastic turnaround and consistency can't be because of knowledge of the other team's plays here and there.

Jim Harbaugh has won so consistently at all stops in his career that it is hard to believe that he needs to steal opponents' signs. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Harbaugh has won quickly after his predecessor was losing mightily at nearly every one of his stops. Stanford was 1-11 in 2006 for its fifth straight losing season. Harbaugh went 8-5 in his third year in 2009 and 12-1 in his fourth season in 2010. The San Francisco 49ers were coming off losing seasons in seven of the eight previous seasons when Harbaugh came to town before the 2011 season. He went 13-3, 11-4-1 with a Super Bowl trip in the 2012 season and 12-4 in 2013.

At the University of San Diego in 2005 and '06, Harbaugh went 11-1 each time. The school has not won 11 games in a season since.

This can't all be on signs, and it would be hard to believe that his record would be that much worse if he never stole another team's sign.

Does Jim Harbaugh Like Outlaw Element Of Stealing Signs?

So why did he do it? The same reason the Houston Astros made sign stealing an art form in 2017 while winning the World Series. They probably didn't need to either. Richard Nixon didn't need to break into the Democratic national headquarters in the Watergate Hotel to beat George McGovern either. But the allure of the covert op kept them doing it.

Jim Harbaugh is like the above. He likes being some sort of cool rebel in khakis. He likes the outlaw mode of finessing the rules - be that with satellite camps in his first year at Michigan or in pushing the COVID recruiting regulations in 2020. He didn't need either of those tactics to get players. He's a great recruiter anyway.

And Jim Harbaugh is one of the most brilliant coaches out there. He doesn't need the other team's signals to beat them. He's looking too hard and too illegally for an edge he already has in most instances anyway.

Now, finally, he knows he has messed up, though. He is not trying to dismiss this one. Many Michigan fans and Harbaugh made light of his recruiting violations in 2020 in which he bought a prospect a hamburger. But that's not the point. What Harbaugh will get in trouble for concerning that violation is the fact that he was dishonest with the NCAA about recruiting during a dead period.

More recently, he has graduated to much more than fast food. This sign stealing scandal sounds and reads like an illegal system as organized and sinister as the McDonald's Monopoly scam of the 1990s and early 2000s.

And it could hasten the end of Harbaugh's career at Michigan, even if he does win the national championship this season. That could happen regardless of whether Michigan knows which way the next play is going, or if it will get there by air or ground.

Many fans and media around the country do not feel like sign stealing is a major infraction. According to the NCAA it could be. And the powers that be at Michigan sure feel like it's serious.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night that in light of the sign stealing scandal, Michigan is taking back the contract offer it had been working on to make Harbaugh the richest college football coach in the country. That story may be an exaggeration, but Michigan is sure as hell thinking about drastically changing whatever Harbaugh's next contract is, if there is one.

"You just have to let it play out, cooperate with the investigation, and then watch how it plays out," Jim Harbaugh said respectfully at his weekly press conference Monday.

I didn't see the word "hamburger" anywhere in that sentence, or throughout the press conference. A humble burger, yes. Harbaugh is taking this one seriously. And that's a step in the right direction.

Forget opponent's signals in the future, Jim, just game plan and strategize. That's what your good at.

But it may be too late. And new NCAA president Charlie Baker could not have asked for a more deserving target to make an example out of than Jim Harbaugh.