In a huge rebuke of his recent NCAA suspension, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh tossed some spicy comments in the direction of the organization overseeing college football.
The Chargers are just days away from the official regular-season start of the Jim Harbaugh era. The hope is that the former 49ers and Michigan head coach can use the momentum from his National Championship run with the Wolverines last year and immediately bring the Chargers back to relevancy.
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Considering his track record as head coach, there is reason to believe Los Angeles can’t soon be a force in the AFC. However, despite the optimism, there has been a dark cloud hovering over Harbaugh’s return to the NFL coaching ranks. He was twice penalized for his recruiting practices in his final year at Michigan. And last week he was handed a four-year ban by the NCAA for impermissible contact with recruits.
They are black marks on an impressive resume that Harbaugh has continually pushed back against. As he did during a post-practice press conference last month following the news of his ban by the governing body of college athletics.
Jim Harbaugh record (Career): 167-68-1
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh on NCAA ban: ‘I do not apologize’
“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal. I was raised with that lesson,” he said. “I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I have coached. No one is perfect. If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right. Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
However, in a new long-form piece from ESPN this week looking at the early stages of his first season in LA, the new Chargers head coach went after the NCAA with some sharp new comments about the organization.
“They’ve been keeping money away from players for decades. They just got hit with a $2.7 billion lawsuit,” Harbaugh said. “They have no credibility. That’s the truth.”
It’s no surprise that there is little love between Harbaugh and the NCAA. But this is one of his harshest comments yet since leaving the college game behind earlier this year for a second stint in the NFL.
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