Jim Harbaugh won't be returning to Michigan to serve as an honorary captain for the team's season opener, Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said Tuesday. "He called me and told me he didn't feel like he could leave his team," Moore said Tuesday of Harbaugh's explanation for not attending the Aug. 31 game against Fresno State.
Moore said Harbaugh declined the offer to return to Michigan Stadium later this month because he is preparing the Los Angeles Chargers for their season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 8. Moore added that Harbaugh did not want to take away from this year's Wolverines team in what will be Moore's debut as Michigan's head coach.
Tuesday's news comes six days after the NCAA announced a four-year show-cause order on Harbaugh due to impermissible contact with recruits and players during the COVID-19 dead period in 2021. In its 48-page report, the NCAA said Harbaugh "engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations." The school already had agreed to a three-year probation in April and was fined by the NCAA.
The NCAA charged Harbaugh with a Level I violation of "misleading investigators." Moore was speaking with reporters Tuesday for the first time since the NCAA alleged in a notice that he violated rules in relation to its sign-stealing investigation involving former Michigan staff member Connor Stalions. It is alleged he deleted a string of 52 text messages between himsel.