Were the Michigan punishments for Connor Stalions case enough?

Yahoo

15 hours ago

Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Caroline Fenton react to the breaking news of the punishments handed down by the NCAA and what it means for the Wolverines moving forward.
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Video Transcript
This is just the beginning of the tip of the iceberg on a lot of information.
I'm gonna give it to you right now.
According to multiple reports, it looks like the fine to Michigan is going to be at least $20 million from future postseason revenue.
It looks like there is a 3-game suspension coming for Sharon Moore in total.
Two games had already been offered up as a self-imposed ban by Michigan and then the NCAA is adding one additional game to that.
So we know weeks 3 and 4 this year, Central Michigan and Nebraska, Moore will not be on the sideline.
Already been offered up by Michigan as self-imposed, uh, punishment.
They're also going to add one game in 2026.
So Caroline, $20 million bucks, show cause, and, and Connor Stallion, that's all other stuff.
This is just for the, university's portion in all of this role, $20 million bucks, three-game suspension for their coach.
You showed them.
Wow, good job, NCAA.
I think that proves to the rest of college football that you really take these things seriously.
No, I'm kidding.
$20 million is a drop in the bucket.
It sounds like a lot of money to you and to me, but to Michigan, that's less than two years of what they are paying.
The Dynamo freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who's making $12 million a year.
$20 million is nothing.
I mean, Michigan has some of the richest alumni.
Night and boosters and donators to donors rather to collectives and any other school in all of college sports and all of college football.
Sharon Moore, three excuse me, two of those three games that he'll be suspended for are something that Michigan already self-imposed.
Michigan said, hey, we'll set Sharon Moore on the sidelines for weeks 3 and 4, which is really smart and calculated by Michigan to say.
Hey, sorry, we did it, but they're willing to sit Sharon Moore on the sidelines for the Central Michigan and Nebraska game.
Now look, the Nebraska game is no easy out, but they conveniently said we will put Sharon Moore on suspension after Michigan goes to Norman, Oklahoma to play the Sooners.
So the NCAA really all they're doing is saying Sharon Moore is suspended for one game in 2026.
So next year, and a $20 million fine.
This to me does not prove that the NCAA views what Connor Stallions did, or at least what Sharon Moore did in relation to Connor Stallions, you know, as dealing with it all with any level of seriousness.
Another Connor Stallions and Jim Harbaugh case.
Jim Harbaugh has been placed with a 10-year show cause by the NCAA.
Connor Stallions got 8 years.
My question is, because Jim Harbaugh has another job, you know, he's good, he's in the NFL.
And which I think is damning evidence enough.
What does the NFL do with Jim Harbaugh?
Nothing?
Do they feel the need to step in and have some sort of suspension or disciplinary action of their own?
This will be hairy because all the way back in 2011 when Jim Tressel went to work for the Colts, they delayed his hiring because of the controversy that he had left Ohio State under.
And at the time, Roger Goodell said in interviews that had that not happened, they would have suspended Jim Tressel.
So I think there is a moment here where frankly, when you see a 10-year show cause for Harbaugh, it looks it can appear like he's basically left that behind to go to the NFL so he doesn't have to pay his punishment.
Something that Roger Goodell was adamantly opposed to in 2011.
Where does he stand on it now?
And this, this also, by the way, more breaking news comes in.
Ross Sweeney out that the NCAA has hit former Michigan staff member Denard Robinson with a three-year show cause order.
So they're hitting everybody involved with this, all the coaches from a standpoint that, you know, is damning for each of the people involved.
For Harbaugh, uh, for Denard Robinson, uh, for Connor Stallions.
For any of them, if they choose to want to be, continue a career in college football, that just got much tougher.
But Caroline, go all the way back to your original point.
If I told every fan base in college football, if I told Texas right now, guess what, you can go out and you can get you a national championship by whatever means you need to go get you the natty.
Now it's gonna cost you $20 million on the back end, and whoever your next coach is will have to face a 3-game suspension.
They're taking that deal 10 times out of 10, every single one of them.
I think even if you bump that up to $200 million, there'll be some schools across the country that are saying, OK, fine, sign me up, because that is worth every single penny.
So I don't trust the NCAA really to get anything right, so I shouldn't have trusted the NCAA to get this right.
But quickly, before we gotta get out of here, Fitz, do you think that the NCAA got this right?
No, I think all the NCAA did here is remind us all that the new money of college football makes it so hard to actually punish anybody.
Uh, look, it might as well have just come out and said, hey, we realized they did it, we realized it stinks, but at the end of the day, we can't do anything about it.
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