Former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is highly regarded in football circles as one of the best college football coaches in recent memory. While he has transitioned to a job in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers, he is still viewed as a great college football coach by many. However, his career in the NCAA has not been without scandal.
The former Michigan coach and athletic director Warde Manuel, have been added to an amended federal lawsuit involving former assistant coach Matt Weiss. Weiss has been accused of hacking into the private accounts of female student-athletes and others.
NEW: Jim Harbaugh has been added to a lawsuit against Michigan and a former assistant coach who’s accused of hacking into the accounts of college athletes to look for intimate photos, @AP reports.
Attorneys claim Harbaugh knew the assistant was seen viewing private information… pic.twitter.com/APDJUsCOgl
— On3 (@On3sports) June 28, 2025
The class-action complaint was updated on Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. 51 names were added as defendants, including Harbaugh and Manuel.
This lawsuit was officially filed in March 2025. The allegations against Weiss are quite severe. The lawsuit alleges that he illegally accessed and downloaded intimate photos and personal information from the accounts of more than 3000 student-athletes. Most of the victims were women, although an exact percentage has not been provided. Weiss is alleged to have taken files from over 100 universities.
How Are Jim Harbaugh and Warde Manuel Involved in the Matt Weiss Lawsuit?
On the surface, it appears that this lawsuit involves Matt Weiss, and as a result, Jim Harbaugh and Warde Manuel should not have anything to worry about. However, that is not the case.
With new amendments being added to the lawsuit, the plaintiff claims that the University of Michigan allowed Weiss to coach at the 2022 Fiesta Bowl despite many top officials, including Harbaugh and Manuel, being aware of Weiss’s misconduct.
Court documents state that Weiss viewed private information on a University of Michigan computer on December 21, 2022, only 10 days before the Fiesta Bowl. The lead lawyer for the plaintiff spoke about the university’s delay in removing Weiss as a reason they are being named as defendants in the case.
“The university’s delay in taking meaningful protective action until after a high-stakes game sends a clear message: Student welfare was secondary,” Parker Stinar, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, was quoted as saying by bcsnn.
The university placed Weiss on leave in January 2023, shortly after the Fiesta Bowl. As a result, the university is being accused of prioritizing on-field success over the safety of its students.
Jim Harbaugh has denied knowledge about Weiss’s actions. Earlier this year, he spoke about the lawsuit and his knowledge of it.
“The allegations were shocking,” Harbaugh said. “I was not aware of any investigation or misconduct until after the game.”
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