Jim Harbaugh Says Report About Michigan Rescinding Contract Offer Not 'Accurate'

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh questioned the veracity of a recent report about the school pulling a contract offer amid the sign-stealing scandal surrounding the program.

"I wouldn't say that's accurate," he told reporters Monday when asked about the situation.

Harbaugh added that Michigan policy is to refrain from discussing ongoing contract negotiations publicly.

The Wall Street Journal's Andrew Beaton and Rachel Bachman reported Sunday that Michigan administrators were discussing a new deal that would make Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten. The offer is reportedly no longer on the table for the time being.

Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger and Dan Wetzel reported on Oct. 19 that the NCAA was looking into the Wolverines for allegedly stealing opponents' signs by live-scouting games in contravention of the organization's rules.

Harbaugh denied knowing of any such scheme within the program.

However, ESPN's Pete Thamel and Mark Schlabach reported Michigan staffer Connor Stalions purchased tickets for games that featured not only other Big Ten schools but also College Football Playoff contenders from outside of the conference.

The extent to which Stalions provided direct input to Wolverines coaches has been part of the conversation as well.

Richard Johnson of Sports Illustrated reported the 28-year-old once claimed to decipher an opposing team's sideline signals and communicated them to then-offensive coordinator Josh Gattis on the sideline during a game.

Adam King of 10TV in Columbus, Ohio, also shared a video that purportedly shows Stalions looking toward the Ohio State sideline in the Wolverines' 45-23 victory over the Buckeyes in 2022. Once the signs came in, Stalions and others gestured toward the players on the field.

It appears as though Michigan's tactics became an open secret as well. Dellenger reported last Thursday that TCU coaches were alerted by peers from Big Ten schools including Ohio State to the idea the Wolverines may have decoded their sideline commands.

"Literally everybody we talked to knew," an anonymous Horned Frogs coach said. "They'd say, 'Just so you know, they steal your signals and they're going to have everything so you better change them."

This has all brought an increasing level of scrutiny upon Harbaugh and the football program as a whole. As such, it didn't come as a total shock that Michigan officials would become reluctant to extend a contract that keeps the 59-year-old in Ann Arbor through 2026.