The NCAA fined Michigan tens of millions of dollars on Friday and suspended coach Sherrone Moore for a third game as punishment for a sprawling sign-stealing scandal that has loomed over college football's winningest program for nearly two years, including its national championship season in 2023. The NCAA said it has overwhelming evidence of a cover-up by Wolverines staff and noted there were "sufficient grounds for a multiyear postseason ban" against a program now considered a repeat violator. But the governing body stopped short of program-crippling punishments, the AP reports, saying a two-year postseason ban "would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff" who are no longer there.
"The panel concluded that an elaborate, impermissible scouting scheme was embedded in the Michigan football program" for the 2021, '22, and '23 seasons under former head coach Jim Harbaugh, said Norman Bay, chief hearing officer for the Division I Committee on Infractions. "What makes this case even more serious, in addition to the clear intent to impermissibly gain a substantial competitive advantage, is the elaborate effort to obstruct the investigation." Moore, who's facing a school-imposed two-game suspension this season, will also sit out the first game of the 2026-27 season.
The biggest blow came from the financial penalties, which are expected to exceed $20 million. They include a $50,000 fine, a 10% fine on the football program's budget, a 10% fine on Michigan's 2025-26 scholarships, and a fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of postseason revenue for the 2025 and '26 seasons. The program also faces a 25% reduction in official recruiting visits during the upcoming season and a 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications during its four-year probation period. Michigan said it would appeal the decision, saying NCAA bylaws were misinterpreted and that certain conclusions aren't supported by the evidence.
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