Jim Harbaugh renewed his call for revenue sharing in college sports on Sunday, a day after his three-game Big Ten suspension expired.
The Michigan football coach said during a conference call promoting Saturday’s Big Ten championship game that the topic crossed his mind again this weekend while visiting the Injured offensive lineman Zak Zinter in hospital.
“Who could object to players being paid for what they do? ” Harbaugh told reporters before Michigan’s game against Iowa on Dec. 2 (8 p.m., FOX). “Even minimum wage. Who could argue with that when there is an injury or not.
Zinter was carted off the field during Michigan’s 30-24 win over Ohio State, a game Harbaugh was banned from attending and was later diagnosed with a fractured tibia and fibula. The injury required emergency surgery in the hours after the game, and Harbaugh was seen in photos with Zinter and his family before going under the knife.
“The emotions were with Zak, with him, with his family,” Harbaugh said. “Hoping for the best, but in your mind you start preparing for the worst. »
Harbaugh’s comments about revenue sharing are not new. He first broached the subject in July 2022 as the Big Ten prepared to sign a new seven-year, $7 billion multimedia rights deal to broadcast football and basketball games, and still in fall 2023 as he faced a three-game suspension from Michigan, whose football program was under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations and inappropriate use of coaches.
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“The buildup of emotion — watching it on TV — there hasn’t been a commercial or a sporting event played all week that you haven’t seen these two teams,” Harbaugh said of of the Michigan-Ohio State game. “The preparation, the hype and the talk about player legacy and everything that could possibly be brought together into one in-game game.
“And then you see how many people benefit financially from the efforts of these players.”
In August, Harbaugh called the “status quo unacceptable” and said it “will not survive” during an impassioned speech to reporters in Ann Arbor, questioning how the NCAA, television networks, Conferences and schools “can continue to attract millions…and in some cases, billions of dollars in revenue through the efforts of college student-athletes.”
Harbaugh had few answers then for how to fix the system, and still appears to have no solution, despite the passage of state laws in recent years allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness (NILE).
The Michigan coach wants to go further, it seems, by paying players directly.
“I wonder who that could be?” I also ask other coaches to join me; to use their platform and voice for student-athletes,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not just football players – all student-athletes – who will share in these ever-increasing revenues.
Harbaugh’s comments come as he completes a suspension handed down by the Big Ten on Nov. 10, a three-game ban that was the result of an ongoing NCAA investigation into banned in-person scouting with Michigan football . A program staffer is accused of running a sign-stealing scheme that spanned three seasons, and the Big Ten says it gave Michigan an unfair competitive advantage.
The punishment kept Harbaugh on the sideline for the Wolverines’ games against Penn State, Maryland and, most notably, Ohio State. Michigan has won all three games and holds a 12-0 record heading into Saturday’s Big Ten championship game.
“At the hospital, (Zak) was so happy for his team,” Harbaugh said. “The good news for his team was that this was probably the best of the worst case scenario, because these bones will heal.”
However, it is unclear how this might affect Zinter’s football future. The four-year starter and two-time Big Ten offensive lineman was expected to be one of the first guards off the board in the upcoming NFL draft, a windfall that likely would have netted him millions in his first CONTRACT.
Now, Zinter will have a long and difficult road to recovery – and it’s anyone’s guess what lies ahead.
“I’ve had people tell me, ‘Don’t say anything about it, it’ll take money away from the coaches,'” said Harbaugh, who guaranteed nearly $8 million a year. “I would take less money so that the players have a share. I hope other coaches use their voice to express the same thing.
