Desmond Howard On Michigan Scandal: ‘I Don’t Understand The Rush to Judgement’

Desmond Howard On Michigan Scandal: ‘I Don’t Understand The Rush to Judgement’

The controversy surrounding the Michigan football program has reached a boiling point, with both coaches and athletic directors from around the conference calling for immediate action.
Michigan Wolverines

The controversy surrounding the Michigan football program has reached a boiling point, with both coaches and athletic directors from around the conference calling for immediate action by commissioner Tony Petitti.

The outrage centers around an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing by the Michigan football program, and prominent figures within the league aren’t content with allowing that investigation to be complete before a punishment is levied by the Big Ten.

Appearing on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ on Friday, former Michigan Wolverine and current ESPN analyst Desmond Howard pushed back on the idea of issuing any punishment without a completed investigation.

“It’s still an allegation and there’s information coming out every week,” Howard said. “I listened to a broadcast yesterday that said the coaches wanted the commissioner of the Big Ten to take immediate action and they wondered what he was waiting for.”

“My question is, well, if this was your program that these charges were made against, these allegations were made against, would you want the commissioner to skip due process and let the NCAA do their job? Or would you want to give your program a chance to go through all of the information, all of the facts, and then defend themselves?” Howard asked. “I don’t understand the rush to judgment by some of the coaches in the conference. If the tables were turned? They would never want anybody to rush to judgment.”

Jim Harbaugh

Although there aren’t many at this point, Howard isn’t the only national media voice that’s speaking out against a potential rush to act by the Big Ten conference.

FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt cautioned against the Big Ten taking any steps without the NCAA completing its work, noting that “mob rule” is not leadership.

“Lots of sources and articles about how ‘mad’ opposing coaches are about Michigan,” Klatt wrote. “The level of anger has a direct relationship with the success Michigan has had over the last two-plus seasons. Also, the level of anger is not grounds for an unprecedented overreach from the commish.

“Somebody should ask all those opposing coaches why they haven’t been on board with helmet audio? Rushing into decisions to appease a mob is not leadership and has backfired in the recent past if you haven’t forgotten.

“Every infraction should be handled with the same process. To demand otherwise is a fools errand. Doesn’t matter who or what. Gather evidence, present evidence, respond, judgement, punishment. That’s how it works.”

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti is reportedly in Ann Arbor today and intends to meet with University of Michigan president Santa Ono, and there’s speculation that a suspension for head coach Jim Harbaugh could be imminent. There’s also reporting that Michigan is not prepared to accept any punishment from the Big Ten without significant pushback.

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