Wasserman: Spare us the drama, Michigan – your “challenges and setbacks” are of your own making
Every Saturday evening, Ari Wasserman and David Ubben respond to the weekend’s series of matches on ‘See You Saturday’. On Monday they revisit the largest takeaway Saturday night’s immediate reaction. This week: Ari praises Michigan for its big win over Penn State, but makes it clear no one feels sorry for the Wolverines.
Most of us have seen the short clip of Sherrone Moore breaking down on the court during his postgame interview after Michigan’s win at Penn State on Saturday afternoon. It was intense.
In case you haven’t already, Michigan’s offensive coordinator turned acting head coach started bawling on television. He started by thanking God and then expressed his love to Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh – with the help of a few F-Bombs. Moore thanked University President Santa Ono, athletic director Warde Manuel, his players and the school’s alumni. But the most pointed message was directed at Harbaugh.
“I love you, man,” Moore said to Harbaugh over the television cameras. “I like your stuff, man. We did this for you.”
The post-match interview with Sherrone Moore is everything. Chills
— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 11, 2023
It’s understandable why Moore would be so emotional. He was thrust into this role for the second time this year, and this time it happened at the eleventh hour. Michigan was on a plane to State College when news broke that Harbaugh would be suspended over this fraud investigation. The Wolverines played a one-loss Penn State team on the road that was still trying to claw its way to the Big Ten Championship Game.
Despite all that, Michigan proved unequivocally that it was the better team, handing Penn State a demoralizing 24-15 defeat.
No one tells Moore not to be emotional. It was his team and his players who won a hard-fought match on the road. They should be ecstatic. And Michigan fans have every right to feel an extra sense of pride in their team.
But the rest of us? Let’s not let the tears and emotions emanating from Moore and the rest of this Michigan team blind us to one indisputable truth: This is Michigan’s fault.
Moore pretended that Harbaugh was in the hospital or dealing with a tragedy beyond his control. No. Harbaugh was sitting in the hotel down the street from Beaver Stadium, watching the Michigan game on television.
Michigan might say it wins for Harbaugh while wearing shirts that read “Michigan vs. Everybody,” but this situation isn’t the Wolverines fighting through adversity or winning despite some terrible, random circumstance. Michigan is paying the consequences for breaking the rules, and an investigation into this sign-stealing scandal is underway to see how deep it goes. Some might tell you it was a marginal competitive advantage, but others will tell you the Wolverines outright cheated to win games this year and in the past.
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Michigan isn’t a heartwarming story as it fights a legal battle to get its coach back on the sidelines in time for the Ohio State game in two weeks. This is the Big Ten holding the program accountable for violations and fining the head coach as the figurehead of the entire program.
Ono, the university’s president, posted on his public X account (formerly Twitter) on Sunday morning: “Numerous members of the University of Michigan family reached out to me this weekend and I wanted to express my appreciation. Like any community, we face our share of challenges and setbacks. There have been many such moments in our history. But as our team showed so clearly yesterday, we will face every challenge with the conviction to do better and come out even stronger. Go blue!”
Challenges and setbacks? I think so, if challenges and setbacks can be self-inflicted. That’s the kind of social media post you’d expect from a university president after a tragedy.
Yes, there is some debate about whether the Big Ten should have suspended Harbaugh on Friday. I wrote after the announcement late last week that my preference would have been for the Big Ten and/or the NCAA to punish Michigan once the investigation was complete. The counterargument to that was that the Big Ten had unequivocally enough evidence to discipline the program for cheating, but that the punishment—agree or disagree—was weak. Harbaugh is suspended, but can the team still recruit and coach during the week? Whatever.
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Michigan is lining up lawyers to fight this in court. While I understand the idea that the punishment was premature — again, I wrote it was four days ago — I’m not sure the public should believe that Michigan is the victim here. You know how you don’t get punished? By not allowing any staffer to develop an illegal sign-stealing scheme, including buying tickets for colleagues to record the signals of prospective opponents. Or by not letting that staffer (probably) dress up in Central Michigan coaching gear and stand on the sidelines for the Michigan State game.
The questions that remain to be answered are robust. How much did Harbaugh know? Did anyone else on staff know this? How much competitive advantage has Michigan gained this year? I need the answers to those questions before the hammer falls.
But Harbaugh is not a victim.
And Michigan is not a victim.
Don’t let the tears fool you. Michigan is no longer the lovable underdog trying to win a national title, despite not recruiting like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. At least one person on the Wolverines’ staff broke the rules in an attempt to level the playing field.
That’s why Michigan is a bad guy.
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(Photo: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)