‘Just trolling at this point,’ college football fans claim as Jim Harbaugh returns to Michigan despite NCAA suspension

COLLEGE football fans are up in arms over Jim Harbaugh being named honorary captain for the Michigan Wolverines’ season-opener.

The former Michigan head coach will return to Ann Arbor for the Wolverines’ game with Fresno State on August 31.

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“I look forward to seeing him,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told the 1 Star Recruits podcast .

“He’ll be an honorary captain for our first game.

“I look forward to having him back in Ann Arbor for that game.”

The move comes just days after Harbaugh was served a four-year show-cause order by the NCAA for impermissible contact with recruits and players during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now with the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL , Harbaugh has effectively been banned from coaching college football again until 2028.

Many college football fans had a lot of fun at Harbaugh’s rapid return to Michigan.

“Amazing! Jim Harbaugh just trolling the NCAA at this point,” one fan said.

“Michigan Football has perfected trolling the NCAA,” another fan said.

“Harbaugh’s just trolling,” another fan commented.

Harbaugh had a muted response to the sanctions earlier this week.

“I’m stopping the engagement there with commenting,” he said.

“My only hope is that one day college athletics will be about what’s best for the young men and young women who participate.

“That’s really all I have to say about it.”

The NCAA ruled that Harbaugh “engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations.”

Harbaugh previously denied having any knowledge of the scouting operation that led to the NCAA investigation.

“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal. I was raised with that lesson,” he said .

College football's 2024 shake-up

Oklahoma and Texas switching from the Big 12 to the SEC is one of the biggest changes to college football in recent times.

And that has set off a chain reaction which has left the Pac-12 conference decimated.

The Pac-12 has lost 10 of its 12 members and is down to just Oregon State and Washington State.

Four of those teams are headed for the Big 12 – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.

Another four are going to the Big 10 – Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.

And the other two teams, California and Stanford, will join the ACC conference.

No teams have left the SEC, Big Ten or ACC.

“I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams I’ve coached. No one’s perfect.

“If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right.

“Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate. I was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations.

“So for me, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

Michigan is also facing punishment from a sign-stealing scandal.