ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan warned Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti about overstepping his authority and rushing to judgment, insisting Wednesday that he cannot discipline coach Jim Harbaugh under the conference’s sportsmanship policy for an alleged sign-stealing scheme that has rocked college football.
Parts of the blistering 10-page letter sent to Petitti were shared with The Associated Press by two people who have seen it and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by the school to disclose its contents.
The letter is Michigan’s response to the Big Ten’s notification of potential discipline of Harbaugh’s undefeated second-ranked team, which is among the favorites to win the national championship.
Yahoo Sports first reported the contents of Michigan’s response.
Michigan’s letter said the Big Ten cannot take action if a formal decision has not been made about whether rules were violated, one of the people said.
The school also says it would not be fair to discipline the program in part because it provided the Big Ten with evidence suggesting other conference schools were stealing signs and sharing them with one another.
“The conference should act cautiously when setting precedent given the reality that in-person scouting, collusion among opponents, and other questionable practices may well be far more prevalent than believed,” the letter said.