Urban Meyer Says NFL Should Suspend Jim Harbaugh amid Michigan's Sign-Stealing Scandal

Should the NFL punish former Michigan head coach and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh after he was given 10-year show cause by the NCAA for his alleged part in the Wolverines' sign-stealing scandal?

Urban Meyer thinks so.

The Ohio State head coach implied as much during an appearance on The Triple Option podcast (19:15 mark), citing the case of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, who resigned in 2011 after the NCAA found the school's players received improper benefits:

"There's an elephant in the room here that no one's talking about," he said. "When Tressel was fired by Ohio State and he was given a suspension. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that we're going to honor that suspension. [Tressel] went to the Indianapolis Colts to work in the replay room. The Colts, because of the respect they had for the NCAA and the suspension, suspended Jim Tressel, so he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year."

Meyer has a few facts twisted slightly. In 2011, Tressel went to work with the Colts as a replay consultant, but he and the team's leadership decided that he wouldn't begin those duties until the seventh game of the season in the aftermath of the NCAA scandal.

"I support that decision. I think that's a wise one," Goodell said at the time. "I think it was clear that if they didn't take an appropriate action, I would have taken appropriate action."

There is a significant difference in optics between a team agreeing to a self-imposed suspension of a replay consultant and the league choosing to suspend a head coach, of course.. There would undoubtedly be a legal fight if that occurred.

The NFL might ultimately take action. There's certainly some precedent at play. To this point, however, the league hasn't commented on the matter.