According to a report from ESPN’s Dan Wetzel, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions recommending that Michigan receive no further penalties stemming from the Connor Stalions sign-stealing allegations.
Sources close to the situation said that the letter was read at the June 6 and 7 hearing that took place between Michigan and the Committee on Infractions. In his letter, Petitti argued that the three-game suspension served by Jim Harbaugh was enough and that no further penalties should be enforced. That three-game suspension — on the heels of an earlier in the year three-game suspension — resulted in Harbaugh missing the contests at Penn State, at Maryland, and the regular-season ending vs. Ohio State in Ann Arbor. Michigan won all three on the way to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff national championship.
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There has been no further reaction to what this letter might mean as the NCAA considers its next steps regarding Michigan. The wording in the leaked Notice of Allegations was very stern and condemning, but nobody really knows what to expect from what many consider a dinosaur and outdated organization these days. It has no responsibility to consider anything the Big Ten commissioner might say or do in how it hands down whatever verdict is coming.
It’s not to say that Petitti has had a change of heart since his stance in 2023 when he took action immediately to suspend Harbaugh, but one has to wonder if this is a bit of a self-preservation move for the conference at a time when there are so many changing dynamics with the landscape of the game.
Regardless, it’ll still be a few weeks before we hear anything come down from the NCAA, and it would be foolish to guess on what all that will be before we know.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Tony Petitti recommended no more penalties for Michigan in NCAA letter