Big Ten coaches urge action against Michigan

Jim Harbaugh’s peers want to do something about it.

A “vast majority” of Big Ten coaches urged the conference to take action against Michigan over the sign-stealing, ESPN.com’s Pete Thamel reported during a call Wednesday with Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettitte.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh walked off the call after about 30 minutes. It went on for about an hour after that, with coaches from the conference talking about the NCAA’s investigation into the situation.

According to Thamel, the call was “intense and emotional.”

“Collectively, the coaches want the Big Ten to act — now,” a source familiar with the call told Tamil. “What are we waiting for? We know what happened.”

The call included an explanation to Petitti regarding the manner in which the sign theft was carried out. The language used during the call included words, according to Thamel, such as “tainted,” “fraudulent,” and “unprecedented.”

It also created a huge advantage for Michigan, as it knew (for example) what the opposing offense was going to do before it happened.

“People don’t understand the seriousness of the matter,” an unnamed source told Tamil. “How that really affected the game plan. To really know if it was a run or a pass, people don’t understand how much of an advantage Michigan had.

The Big Ten, according to Thamel, has the authority to punish a school and/or its employees under the conference’s sportsmanship policy.

“An unprecedented violation of the rules would require unprecedented action from the Big Ten,” another unnamed source told Tamil.

Everything stinks. Harbaugh said he didn’t know this was happening. Given the evidence that has emerged in published reports, Harbaugh would have to be Mr. Magoo not to realize what was happening.

This is arguably just as bad to know, given the importance of the job Harbaugh holds.