Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh will not coach the No. 3 Wolverines as they take on No. 10 Penn State in Happy Valley Saturday afternoon, according to reports.
A Washtenaw County Judge will not make a decision on Saturday morning after the school on Friday night filed a request for a temporary restraining order to halt the Big Ten’s suspension of the coach, according to a report from The Detroit News.
Earlier Friday Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti announced Harbaugh would be prohibited from coaching the team’s final three games of the regular season, though he’d be allowed to coach the team in practice during the week.
A hearing regarding the temporary restraining order will be held Friday morning in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, according to The Detroit Free Press. If granted, Harbaugh would then be allowed to coach the Wolverines from the sidelines at Maryland and the following week at home against rival Ohio State.
In the motion filed Friday night by lawyers for Harbaugh and the Michigan Board of Regents, they argued “no more dramatic blow could be given to his character and reputation than the permanent lifetime label of 'missing in action' because of a purported -- but still unsubstantiated -- cheating scandal."
The discipline comes in the midst of an in-person, off campus scouting and sign-stealing scandal that Petitti said in a 13-page letter to the school has been “proven,” arguing the “impermissible scheme” the NCAA has found to have been ongoing this season violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy.
“This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh. It is a sanction against the University that, under the extraordinary circumstances presented by this offensive conduct, best fits the violation because: (1) it preserves the ability of the University’s football student-athletes to continue competing; and (2) it recognizes that the Head Coach embodies the University for purposes of its football program,” the letter said.
The timing of Petitti's decision to suspend Harbaugh -- as the Wolverines were in the air, en route to Happy Valley -- has drawn the ire of many Michigan fans.
Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore is expected to serve as Michigan’s head coach in Harbaugh’s absence on Saturday, according to multiple reports.
Despite the recent controversy, the Wolverines enter Saturday’s contest at 9-0, facing their first ranked opponent of the season.
You can listen to Saturday's game live on WWJ.