Paul Finebaum calls Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh a 'dinosaur in a changing world'
To ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is a "fascinating figure" and a relic of the old college football game.
"I think he’s somewhat of a dinosaur in a changing world," Finebaum said on the most recent episode of "Hail Yes!", a podcast about Michigan sports by the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. Finebaum also talked about Harbaugh's future, Michigan's sign-stealing scandal, and the Wolverines' College Football Playoff semifinal game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
The longtime college football analyst and talk show host expanded on the thought by saying he would not be surprised if this year's playoffs would be the final time Harbaugh coaches the Wolverines.
"Like many, I’ll be surprised if he’s there whenever Michigan’s season ends because I think there’s too much baggage built up," Finebaum said.
The baggage he refers to is Harbaugh’s multiple three-game suspensions served during the 2023 season. Harbaugh missed the first three games of the season while serving a ban self-imposed by the university for alleged recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period (Michigan received its notice of allegations from the NCAA on this investigation on Wednesday).
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The second suspension, however, was the one Finebaum was focused on. Michigan became the biggest story in all of college football when its alleged sign-stealing scheme came to light in late October. The Big Ten and NCAA announced an investigation into the scandal, and the conference punished Harbaugh by suspending him for the final three games of the season for violating the Big Ten sportsmanship policy.
Because of the ongoing NCAA investigation into the sign-stealing, Finebaum believes, "(Harbaugh) would be wise to leave" because, in his eyes, he and the NCAA are at odds with one another.
"I do believe that there are at least some people at the University of Michigan with integrity, and who believe what he has been accused of is probably not – he’s not going to be able to get away with it," Finebaum said. "I also have very little faith, if any, in the NCAA, but these two just seem to be on a collision course. And what I saw from (Big Ten commissioner) Tony Pettiti a couple of weeks ago was unique; you usually don’t see that from a conference office. Instead, you see the conference office doing everything they can to protect the university, regardless of what the facts are."
Harbaugh has long been one of the targets to find themselves in Finebaum’s crosshairs as one of the most popular and outspoken voices in college football. Finebaum compared Harbaugh to former President Donald Trump during his early years at Michigan in 2016 for his brash, headline-grabbing nature, and accused Harbaugh of cheating in 2017 when he hired a former NFL coordinator who was the father of a top high school prospect. Harbaugh fired off a tweet in response in 2017, calling Finebaum "the unabashed SEC water carrier" in response.
Finebaum explained on the podcast that ESPN has asked him in recent years to continue to comment on Harbaugh when it was deemed necessary, leading to him making headlines for bashing Harbaugh for his 1-6 bowl record, and most recently, calling him sad for labeling Michigan as "America’s team" at the height of the sign-stealing scandal after initially siding with Harbaugh.
"I initially felt like the NCAA was out to get (Harbaugh), as some of you may remember," Finebaum said. “It was amazing how some of the friendly Michigan shows called me, Rich Eisen called me, 'Hey can you be on the show today?' That all changed once I started getting a better look at what I believe to be the facts of the case and I reversed my opinion. I think you guys know where I’ve been since – where most people have been other than Michigan fans."