Former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer added gasoline to the Michigan sign-stealing scandal this week, suggesting there's a chance Jim Harbaugh isn't a part of the program next season.
Now, it should be noted that Meyer did this while also giving himself an out, saying that he didn't want to comment on the matter directly. However, by insinuating the scandal goes 'deep', it puts Harbaugh directly under the spotlight. Meyer also said he'd find it tough to believe that one rogue coach was responsible for the entire scheme.
"I've heard it is deep-deep, and then I've heard it's not that deep, where it's just a rogue guy doing it, which is kinda hard for me to believe that just some guy's out there talking to your coordinators and nobody's aware what he did. So I want to remain to be seen what the depth [of it] is. If it's as deep as I'm hearing ... there's a chance he won't coach there next year for the season," Meyer said.
Will Jim Harbaugh remain at Michigan next season? Urban Meyer isn't so sure
The premise of Colin Cowherd's was in regards to how much punishment college football fans should expect for Michigan once this is all said and done. While sanctions, suspensions and vacating wins are all on the table, which would send the appropriate message?
Meyer makes a good point in that vacating wins only punishes the student-athletes who, realistically, did nothing wrong in this case. He also indicates that such a punishment rarely has the impact the NCAA thinks it does in the end, mentioning Matt Leinart and USC by name as an example.
While Meyer's job is as an analyst, it's tough to believe he can remain complete impartial in this instance. Meyer did coach at Ohio State once upon a time, and was quite successful against that team up north.
Harbaugh leaving Michigan -- or being forced out -- would be a shocking end to what's already been one of the more entertaining scandals in college football history.
