Eleazar
05-12-2015, 06:01 PM
Wolverines report 4 secondary violations under Harbaugh
By Kevin Bull and Gene Myers, Detroit Free Press 1:01 p.m. EDT May 12, 2015
No major punitive action likely for transgressions committed after new regime took over Dec. 30
On the day Michigan announced cornerback Wayne Lyons as a graduate transfer from Stanford, the Free Press learned that the Wolverines self-reported four secondary NCAA violations, all committed under new football coach Jim Harbaugh, including one involving Lyons.
Secondary violations, classified as Level III, typically don't result in significant punitive action by the NCAA. On Monday, the Free Press obtained U-M's report to the NCAA through a Freedom of Information Act request.
U-M wrote that none of the violations impacted the eligibility of any athletes. As a result of the violations — two of which directly involved Harbaugh — U-M wrote that its compliance department would provide additional education on NCAA rules and school protocol to the involved parties and other football staff members.
The violations, all reported April 13, were improperly discussing a recruit before he had been admitted, providing a helmet and jersey for a fundraiser to benefit a high school scholarship fund, sharing recruiting materials through social media, and allowing a recruit to sit in premium seating at a campus hockey game.
Harbaugh took over as coach of the Wolverines on Dec. 30. He previously coached at University of San Diego and Stanford before spending four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
U-M football spokesman David Ablauf acknowledged the violations but declined to comment further. "It's all in the report," he told the Free Press.
U-M reported that it violated two NCAA bylaws involving Lyons. The guilty parties were his future position coach — and his mother.
On March 26, secondary coach Mike Zordich talked about recruiting Lyons with media members before the player officially had joined the Wolverines. Zordich had told his cornerbacks that competition was coming and discussed Lyons with reporters.
Gwendolyn Bush, Lyons' mother, was hired as U-M football's director of player development during the winter and tweeted Feb. 4: "Now I'm @UMICH_Mama_G TeamMom for the University of Michigan Football Program!" That tweet and others about the transfer have been removed from her Twitter account.
Coaches and administrators are not allowed to make public comments on potential transfers until the player has been cleared by the compliance department and admitted by the university.
Also according to U-M's filing with the NCAA:
• On March 14, Harbaugh, football operations director Jim Minick and special teams coordinator John Baxter allowed a recruit on an unofficial visit to sit in premium seating with coaches during a hockey game at Yost Ice Arena. The recruit had made an unplanned visit to the football facility, which is across a parking lot from Yost. Harbaugh was scheduled to make a promotional appearance after the second period. They invited the recruit to walk over with them and then he joined them in seats Harbaugh previously had used with his family. U-M said event staff asked compliance staff whether the recruit could be in those seats. U-M said the football staff did not realized the seats were considered premium seating "until the compliance personnel inquired about it," with about one minute left in the game. According to U-M, the coaching staff was educated by the compliance staff after the violation.
• On March 18, Harbaugh sent a signed helmet and jersey to an auction put together by a former high school classmate to raise funds to benefit suicide prevention and awareness in Toledo. The money raised was used for a scholarship fund in honor of a student who committed suicide, which Harbaugh said he was not aware of and which violates NCAA rules. According to U-M, Harbaugh and Minick were instructed that all donations needed to be reviewed by compliance personnel.
Harbaugh tweeted Monday: "Thought of day: 'No good deed goes unpunished' Oscar Wilde."
• The other violation dealt with electronic materials created and/or sent to a recruit by recruiting coordinator Chris Partridge and football graphic artist Aaron Bills. Staffers can send materials to recruits, but it must be done privately.
Major college programs routinely report secondary violations. According to the NCAA, Level III violations are "isolated or limited in nature; provide no more than a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage; and do not include more than a minimal impermissible benefit." Secondary violations rarely attract much attention; however, everything Harbaugh has done at U-M has garnered national headlines. Multiple secondary violations were reported under Harbaugh's predecessor, Brady Hoke, too.
Before the spring football game April 4, U-M compliance officers met with reporters to discuss rules involving the media. At that meeting, the Free Press asked whether the new football staff had committed any violations. The compliance officers refused to comment.
After the meeting, the Free Press submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for any major or secondary NCAA violations involving the football program since Harbaugh was hired. The Free Press received U-M's filing Monday.
By Kevin Bull and Gene Myers, Detroit Free Press 1:01 p.m. EDT May 12, 2015
No major punitive action likely for transgressions committed after new regime took over Dec. 30
On the day Michigan announced cornerback Wayne Lyons as a graduate transfer from Stanford, the Free Press learned that the Wolverines self-reported four secondary NCAA violations, all committed under new football coach Jim Harbaugh, including one involving Lyons.
Secondary violations, classified as Level III, typically don't result in significant punitive action by the NCAA. On Monday, the Free Press obtained U-M's report to the NCAA through a Freedom of Information Act request.
U-M wrote that none of the violations impacted the eligibility of any athletes. As a result of the violations — two of which directly involved Harbaugh — U-M wrote that its compliance department would provide additional education on NCAA rules and school protocol to the involved parties and other football staff members.
The violations, all reported April 13, were improperly discussing a recruit before he had been admitted, providing a helmet and jersey for a fundraiser to benefit a high school scholarship fund, sharing recruiting materials through social media, and allowing a recruit to sit in premium seating at a campus hockey game.
Harbaugh took over as coach of the Wolverines on Dec. 30. He previously coached at University of San Diego and Stanford before spending four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
U-M football spokesman David Ablauf acknowledged the violations but declined to comment further. "It's all in the report," he told the Free Press.
U-M reported that it violated two NCAA bylaws involving Lyons. The guilty parties were his future position coach — and his mother.
On March 26, secondary coach Mike Zordich talked about recruiting Lyons with media members before the player officially had joined the Wolverines. Zordich had told his cornerbacks that competition was coming and discussed Lyons with reporters.
Gwendolyn Bush, Lyons' mother, was hired as U-M football's director of player development during the winter and tweeted Feb. 4: "Now I'm @UMICH_Mama_G TeamMom for the University of Michigan Football Program!" That tweet and others about the transfer have been removed from her Twitter account.
Coaches and administrators are not allowed to make public comments on potential transfers until the player has been cleared by the compliance department and admitted by the university.
Also according to U-M's filing with the NCAA:
• On March 14, Harbaugh, football operations director Jim Minick and special teams coordinator John Baxter allowed a recruit on an unofficial visit to sit in premium seating with coaches during a hockey game at Yost Ice Arena. The recruit had made an unplanned visit to the football facility, which is across a parking lot from Yost. Harbaugh was scheduled to make a promotional appearance after the second period. They invited the recruit to walk over with them and then he joined them in seats Harbaugh previously had used with his family. U-M said event staff asked compliance staff whether the recruit could be in those seats. U-M said the football staff did not realized the seats were considered premium seating "until the compliance personnel inquired about it," with about one minute left in the game. According to U-M, the coaching staff was educated by the compliance staff after the violation.
• On March 18, Harbaugh sent a signed helmet and jersey to an auction put together by a former high school classmate to raise funds to benefit suicide prevention and awareness in Toledo. The money raised was used for a scholarship fund in honor of a student who committed suicide, which Harbaugh said he was not aware of and which violates NCAA rules. According to U-M, Harbaugh and Minick were instructed that all donations needed to be reviewed by compliance personnel.
Harbaugh tweeted Monday: "Thought of day: 'No good deed goes unpunished' Oscar Wilde."
• The other violation dealt with electronic materials created and/or sent to a recruit by recruiting coordinator Chris Partridge and football graphic artist Aaron Bills. Staffers can send materials to recruits, but it must be done privately.
Major college programs routinely report secondary violations. According to the NCAA, Level III violations are "isolated or limited in nature; provide no more than a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage; and do not include more than a minimal impermissible benefit." Secondary violations rarely attract much attention; however, everything Harbaugh has done at U-M has garnered national headlines. Multiple secondary violations were reported under Harbaugh's predecessor, Brady Hoke, too.
Before the spring football game April 4, U-M compliance officers met with reporters to discuss rules involving the media. At that meeting, the Free Press asked whether the new football staff had committed any violations. The compliance officers refused to comment.
After the meeting, the Free Press submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for any major or secondary NCAA violations involving the football program since Harbaugh was hired. The Free Press received U-M's filing Monday.