Jim Harbaugh added to lawsuit against former Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss
A group of Michigan athletes are filing suit against Jim Harbaugh over his former co-offensive coordinator's alleged actions. (Photo by)
The legal furor over the allegations against former Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss have officially reached Jim Harbaugh.
The former Michigan head coach and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach was added as a defendant to a class-action lawsuit filed by 11 anonymous students against Weiss, who is accused of hacking the email, social media and cloud storage accounts of thousands of female athletes and downloading intimate photos and videos, per The Athletic.
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The complaint reportedly was re-filed on Friday in federal court in Michigan and claims that Harbaugh knew Weiss had been accessing the plaintiffs' private information when allowing him to coach in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, 2022. Weiss' alleged crimes were reportedly flagged to school police in the days before that game.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and former university president Santa Ono were also reportedly added to the complaint.
From The Athletic:
'Naming head coach Jim Harbaugh and athletic director Warde Manuel in this complaint reflects our belief that leadership at the highest levels either knew of these threats or deliberately ignored them, prioritizing athletic prestige and profit over the safety and dignity of students,' attorney Parker Stinar said in an emailed statement. 'By placing athletic success and financial interests above accountability, transparency, and student welfare, the University failed in its basic duty of care.'
Weiss was placed on administrative leave two weeks after the Fiesta Bowl, which Michigan lost, and fired days after that. He was formally charged with a crime in March earlier this year, on 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each unauthorized access charge and two years for each identity theft charge.
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That adds up to as many as 90 years in prison. Weiss pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in November.
The Justice Department claims Weiss used personal data downloaded from a student athlete database to obtain access to the social media, email and/or cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 athletes and more than 1,300 additional students or graduates. From there, he allegedly downloaded intimate photos and videos that were never meant to see the light of day.
In addition to the criminal charges, Weiss is facing a barrage of lawsuits, such as this one.
Harbaugh left Michigan for the Chargers last year, under a different cloud of allegations from the NCAA. After the charges were filed, he described the allegations "shocking" and called it a "disturbing situation." He said he felt "really bad" for not just the alleged victims, but also Weiss' wife and children.
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From 2011 to 2022, Weiss worked for either Harbaugh or his brother John, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. After playing at Vanderbilt as a punter, Weiss joined the Ravens as an assistant and held a number of jobs, including cornerbacks and running backs coach. It was in 2015, during his time with the Ravens, that his hacking allegedly started.
Weiss jumped from Baltimore to Michigan in 2021 to become the Wolverines' quarterbacks coach and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator after one season.
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