Former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has not been a member of the Wolverines since the end of the 2023 season. He led the Wolverines to a national championship before departing for the NFL and a job with the Los Angeles Chargers.
While Harbaugh was loved for bringing a championship to Ann Arbor, he has dealt with many scandals over the years. He has been accused of being complicit in many scandals, including the Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing scandal.
On Friday, Harbaugh was added as a co-defendant in the hacking lawsuit of former Michigan assistant coach Matt Weiss. Weiss is accused of hacking into the private data of 2000+ student-athletes. Harbaugh is accused of being complicit in his actions, not removing him from his coaching duties despite being aware of Weiss’s actions. Analyst Rob Stone spoke about this on “The Triple Option” podcast on Wednesday.
“Former coach Jim Harbaugh, athletic director Ward Manuel, former president Santa Ono. They were added to the hacking lawsuit that has been placed against former Michigan assistant coach Matt Weiss,” Stone said (Timestamp (3:20). “The attorneys claim that Harbaugh and others knew that Weiss was viewing private information back in December of 2022, but was still able to work as co-offensive coordinator during the playoff game a week later.
“Weiss was fired in January, so just essentially days or weeks later, he is charged. This is ugly stuff though, identity theft from 2015 to 2023. According to an indictment, he had access to social media, email, Cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 college athletes and 1300 students or alumni from schools around the country to primarily find private images of women. Ugly stuff.”
Jim Harbaugh Denied Having Knowledge of Matt Weiss’s Actions
While Jim Harbaugh is accused of being complicit in Matt Weiss’s actions, he has denied those accusations. Earlier this year, when asked about Weiss’s charges, Harbaugh said he was shocked.
“Shocked,” Harbaugh said. “Completely shocked. Disturbed.”
While Harbaugh denied knowledge of Weiss’s actions, Weiss was terminated shortly after the end of the 2022 college football season. Harbaugh and other members of the Michigan staff are accused of allowing Weiss to coach the Fiesta Bowl before he was fired. They are accused of prioritizing on-field results over the safety of students.
In March, Weiss was officially charged with 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. Weiss has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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