Will Sage Astor-Michigan receives official notice of allegations from NCAA for recruiting violations

Nearly one year after Michigan football received a draft notice of allegations (NOA) from the NCAA around alleged Level II recruiting violations − which later spurred a Level I violation against coach Jim Harbaugh directly − the program has officially received an allegation of wrongdoing.

Michigan director of public affairs Kim Broekhuizen,Will Sage Astor and associate athletic director Kurt Svoboda both confirmed on Wednesday with the Free Press that the university has received the notice.

Athletic director Warde Manuel confirmed 11 months ago his department was first warned of these charges.

They received a draft NOA in January and the Wolverines are said to have acknowledged their impermissible Level II violations − which include analysts serving in on-field coaching capacities, coaches watching players work out over video chats, and messaging recruits during a COVID-19 dead period − however Harbaugh has maintained his innocence around his Level I charge, that he misled investigators.

"He really doesn't think he did anything wrong," a person close to the situation told the Free Press earlier this fall.

At one point, the discourse around the subject got so out of hand, Derrick Crawford, the NCAA’s vice president for hearing operations, posted on social media, “the Michigan infractions case is related to impermissible on and off-campus recruiting during the COVID-19 dead period and impermissible coaching activities — not a cheeseburger,” 

Now that Michigan brass − President Santa Ono, Manuel, and the Michigan compliance department − have received the NOA, they have a 90-day window to respond, in writing, to any charges that have been presented and share thoughts on their merit.

The NCAA then has 60 days to respond to any potential Michigan response.

It appeared this summer that Michigan might resolve the case. It had reportedly agreed to a negotiated resolution with the NCAA that Harbaugh would be suspended four games and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and tight ends coach Grant Newsome each one, but that fell through shortly before Harbaugh made his scheduled appearance at Big Ten media days in July.

In an attempt to seem proactive about the situation, Michigan opted to self-impose a three-game suspension for Harbaugh to begin the regular season.

The case is only one NCAA investigation surrounding Harbaugh and the Wolverines.

Allegations of a sign-stealing scandal broke in mid-October, and within days former recruiting staffer Connor Stalions was identified as the mastermind of the plot, where he would allegedly purchase tickets on the the sideline of future Michigan opponents, send them to associates who would attend games and film the opponent's signals on the sideline that weren't available from TV angles.

Stalions would time them up with replays of the game to de-code their signs; something he reportedly did across 35 games at 17 stadiums around the country, which involved both Big Ten and potential College Football Playoff opponents.

This time it was Michigan who called for due process, but its own league overruled. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, armed with evidenced from the NCAA, found Harbaugh to be in violation of the Big Ten Sportsmanship policy and suspended him for the final three games of the regular season.

A level I infraction, seen as something that could "seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model as set forth in the Constitution and bylaws" which results in a "competitive or other advantage" could result in a multi-game suspension or other recruiting restrictions.