A couple of years ago, Michigan found itself in hot water with the NCAA over accusations of sign-stealing and poaching, and that investigation is still in the works. Back then, their head coach, Jim Harbaugh, got hit with two separate three-game suspensions. Since then, he’s moved on to the NFL to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. Right now, it looks like even if the NCAA manages to prove those charges against him, they won’t really be able to do much. So, while Jim Harbaugh seems to have dodged the NCAA’s fire, another big scandal has come up with his name attached.
The same year when the sign-stealing scandal came to the surface, another big scandal swept the college football world involving Michigan’s co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss. Weiss was accused of unauthorized access to the NCAA’s database and stealing the identity of more than 3,000 athletes, mostly female, and downloading their intimate and personal photos and videos, not intended for public sharing. The whole controversy was widely condemned, and Weiss was fired from Michigan in 2023. But this isn’t where it ends.
On March 24, 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed by 11 women athletes against the University of Michigan and Matt Weiss, alleging “significant and severe damages” and seeking compensation exceeding $50 million. Several other persons were also named in the lawsuit, including former Michigan president Santa Ono and the University’s athletic director, Warde Manuel. But now? According to the recent filings in the lawsuit, the former Michigan head coach has also been added as a defendant with allegations that he knew about Matt Weiss’s wrongdoings. RJ Young of Fox Sports asked a valid question involving Jim Harbaugh after the news broke.
“If it were your kid, would you be concerned that Jim Harbaugh knew about this? I think you would be, right? And I think you would want an explanation. There were over 2,000 college athletes and 1,300 students or alumni that Matt Weiss had access to from 2015 to 2023,” said RJ Young. Later, he pointed to the allegations that the lawsuit’s lead attorney has leveled against Harbaugh and how it alleges that student welfare was secondary for the program.
Weiss was accused of accessing the database (Athletic Trainer System) starting from 2015, when he wasn’t with Michigan, and keeping detailed notes about the athletes. Soon after the whole controversy became public, the FBI got involved and charged Weiss with 14 counts of unauthorized computer access and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. All these charges carry a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment on each count, and the investigation is still going on. But apart from this investigation, the lawsuit’s attorneys’ allegations are more serious.
“Parker Steiner, who is the lead lawyer in this class action suit, is raising a point that the university is delaying in taking meaningful protective action until a high-stakes game sends a clear message that student welfare was secondary,” said RJ Young in his June 28th podcast episode. About Michigan, knowing and not doing anything, RJ Young is pointing to something sinister.
The new allegations in the lawsuit allege that Jim Harbaugh and the program knew about Matt Weiss’ wrongdoings before their Fiesta Bowl game against TCU in December 2023. Still, despite the knowledge that Matt Weiss was allowed to coach in the semifinal game, it implied that Michigan and the head coach were sweeping the matter under the rug for the time being. Yet Jim Harbaugh had a different theory about it.
“It was after the TCU game that we — that I found out, we found out, that there were allegations,” said Jim Harbaugh in an interview. Of course, all of this is still not proved, and the lawsuit is still going on, but the allegations are still big and could cost Jim Harbaugh’s tenure at the Chargers. Also, Jim Harbaugh and Matt Weiss have a long history of working together, which has fueled a wide discussion on the internet and in the media.
Jim Harbaugh and his brother John Harbaugh have a long history of working with Matt Weiss
Before Matt Weiss was hired on Michigan’s coaching staff in 2021, Weiss had worked with Jim Harbaugh and his brother at various places. For instance, when Jim Harbaugh was the head coach at Stanford from 2007 to 2010, Matt Weiss served as a graduate assistant from 2005 to 2008. This was the beginning of Matt Weiss’s professional relationship with Jim Harbaugh, and the former Michigan head coach took Weiss’s expertise to Michigan. As for Jim Harbaugh’s brother, John Harbaugh? Matt Weiss also worked under him.
John Harbaugh has been the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens since 2008, and Matt Weiss spent much of his coaching career at the Ravens, starting in 2009 and exiting in 2020. Although Jim Harbaugh wasn’t involved directly, his connection still would have played its part in Matt Weiss’s hiring, although it’s still speculation in the media.
While none of these proves that Jim Harbaugh had anything to do with Matt Weiss’s controversy. Still, the past connection and Weiss’s long relationship with Jim and his brother have fueled discussions in the media about the relationship. It, however, remains to be seen how the lawsuit plays out and if there will be other defendants who will be added, too, in the lawsuit.
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