Austin Meek, Michigan writer for The Athletic, tells McElroy & Cubelic what possible outcome(s) the Wolverines could be facing & how the future of the program looks
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This Jock's 94.5 podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and Video. Log on to MSPNOW.com. TV excellence everywhere. That's Millennium. McElroy and Kulik in the morning starts now.

Welcome back in. Hour number three. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. joxfm.com, apps in your app store. Different ways to tune in. It's been a fun show so far. Brian Driscoll, Andy Burcham, Josh Newberg. If you missed any of those, go check out the podcast at joxfm.com. Going to get to Austin Meek and talk some Michigan here in just a moment. But first, don't forget about Game Day Men's Health. If you need to feel better, if you're on edge, if you're not sleeping, Game Day Men's Health can add assistance to your life.

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long-term punishment for Michigan prior to the last 48 hours and then since everything that we've learned the last 48 hours? Yeah, I'd say based on what came out in the draft of the notice of allegations that Michigan got over the weekend, it looks to me like they may be in a little bit more trouble than I would have thought before.

before seeing those allegations, primarily because you have Sharon Moore, the head coach, involved in a way that had not been publicly known prior to that. So I would anticipate there probably would be some penalties for Sharon Moore. And I think the allegations that are presented in that draft definitely paint a picture of quite a few people at Michigan not being fully cooperative with

with the investigation into the, the Connor Stallions signed stealing scheme. I think that lack of cooperation could maybe, um,

bring some tougher penalties on Michigan. But I wouldn't say it's anything that significantly changes the story in my mind. There's no allegation in there that I'm aware of that Sharon Moore or anybody else at Michigan was involved in the sign stealing and the scouting, knew about it in advance, more about what they did after the fact, which certainly is not good and doesn't reflect particularly well on Michigan. But it's not the worst case scenario from Michigan's perspective.

Austin Meek joining us to talk Michigan football covers Michigan for the Athletic at by Austin Meek you can find him on Twitter anything changed with what you heard from Jim Harbaugh yesterday just your opinion of his involvement his knowledge I don't know it's pretty much what we expected to hear it's not going to get out and say anything else but did that offer any difference in what you may think or see or feel about a certain thing that happened with this entire situation

No, that's really been Jim Harbaugh's stance throughout this whole thing. He feels that he's innocent, that his players are innocent, and that he doesn't feel that he had a responsibility to know about what Connor Stallions was doing or what was going on in his program. I certainly think people can disagree with that because as the head coach at the University of Michigan, everything that happens in that program, to some extent, goes

goes back to Jim Harbaugh, right? And head coaches are control freaks. You know, they want to know everything that's going on. Now, obviously, that's hard to do in an organization the size of Michigan, but it's still, you know, it is hard to believe that at no point did

did Jim Harbaugh or anybody else at Michigan at least ask the question of, you know, Hey, this Connor Stallion guy's pretty good at getting the other team's signals. I wonder how he's doing that. Is he just that good at watching the TV copy?

and figuring out what the signals are. It doesn't appear, at least there's no evidence, that anybody at Michigan asked that question or that Jim Harbaugh asked that question, but maybe he should have. I think there's certainly a strong argument to be made that as the head coach, he had an obligation to know more about what was going on in his program. Austin Meek joining us from the Buyer's Right Hotline. It kind of got me thinking just then when you're kind of running through how Jim has handled some things, what he has said about certain things,

Can you take us back as to what was the connection or what was the introduction or how these two got connected in the first place? You're talking Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stallions? Correct, yes.

You know, Connor Stallion, from what I understand, was basically a Michigan super fan, a guy who just hung around the program and tried to make himself useful. He wasn't a college football player. He didn't have a playing background. There was really nothing in his resume that would have said anything

this is a guy that, you know, should be working for a, for a major college football program. He's one of those guys who would do anything to be, to be involved. And he worked his way into a role with the program. And, you know, he was good at what he was doing. And I think at some point,

People at Michigan, people on the staff recognize that, okay, this guy can bring some value to what we're doing, and let's give him a job for $50,000 a year and see if he can help us. And I think that was one of the, I think, shortcomings of Jim Harbaugh's program at Michigan is,

He wasn't real careful about some of the people he brought in to do different jobs, was not as thorough as he should have been in making sure that everybody was

who was part of the program, was somebody they could trust and that they thoroughly vetted and they knew exactly what was going on. I think that was the case with Connor Stallion. He was just trying to make himself useful, trying to make a name for himself in the coaching business, figured out a way to do it, and nobody at Michigan really looked closely enough to see the risks that were being created by having him as part of the program.

Austin Meek with us, covers Michigan for The Athletic. So spinning forward, show cause was something that was sort of mentioned earlier this week as it pertained to Sharon Moore. If you had to place a guess on it right now, what ends up being the punishment for him as now the Michigan head football coach? I'm guessing in terms of what will be noticeable, what will have an effect, the fan watching Michigan,

I would expect for Sharon Moore potentially a suspension similar to what

Jim Harbaugh had last year. Jim Harbaugh was suspended by the school for the first three games of last season. It was a self-imposed penalty. And Jim Harbaugh had been accused of a Level 1 violation in a previous NCAA infractions case. Sharon Moore, right now, accused of a Level 2. So, could we see Sharon Moore serve a short suspension, maybe early in the 2025 season? I think that's certainly a possibility. And then for Michigan as a program, I think the question is,

What is on the table in terms of institutional penalties to come out of this? Everybody asks about could Michigan end up vacating games or even vacating the national championship last year? I really don't think that's on the table. I have not heard anything to suggest that that's a possible outcome here. I think a postseason ban is another thing that has been discussed, and I think that's maybe a little more of a possibility, but

But I also think the NCAA has really tried to move away from punishments like that that would punish the current players on Michigan's team who had nothing to do with this. So I really think we could be looking at something like a fine, recruiting restrictions, things like that. And if Michigan can avoid a postseason ban and settle this with lesser penalties, I think that would probably be a win from Michigan's perspective.

Yeah, I mean, if that's all it was, I would think that that would be massive. Austin, I'm interested to get just kind of your thoughts on this football team. Obviously, that's a big story nationally. We have to cover and talk about it. But we've gone back and forth on the show just about what to expect. I think the front seven is going to be elite. I don't expect the offensive line, even with a couple of losses, to just go away. Obviously, the style of football is not going to take some massive 180 or anything.

But quarterback could be very different this year. You know, leadership continuity could be very different this year. What are your realistic expectations for this Michigan football team?

I think the bar for Michigan this year is to make the playoff. I think if Michigan makes the playoff, fans, people around the program will feel like that was a successful first season for Sharon Moore. I think everybody understands the challenge of replacing so many foundational players

in the program who were part of that national championship, especially on offense. There's a couple of guys coming back on offense that, that we know and that people will remember, but a lot of new faces on that offense. But at the same time, as you mentioned, that front seven is, is going to be elite in the secondary. Will Johnson, potentially a top five pick in, in the 2025 draft. So they have talent. And, and I think that,

I do think that Sharon Moore needs to have a good year in year one. I've been saying, I really think maybe the big rebuild for Michigan actually could hit next year because they have so many good underclassmen on defense that could get drafted really high. So I think people understand that there may be a small step back this

this season based on everything that Michigan lost. Um, but not a big one. And I think that Michigan has the talent to contend in the big 10. I think that that's a reasonable expectation for year one for sure. And more, what's your thousand foot view of the big 10? Um,

Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and then maybe a severe drop-off there. Are there a couple other teams that you feel like we should be talking a little bit more about? Is Ohio State ahead of everybody else, far ahead of everybody else? I'm just kind of interested to get your thoughts on the league in general. Yeah, I'd say right now it's Ohio State and then a little bit of daylight between Ohio State and Oregon, and

And then a little more daylight between Oregon and Michigan and Penn State. That would be my top four. I had Michigan third just because I kind of need to see it with Penn State. Every year it seems like they have athletes coming back and

you feel like maybe this is the year that Penn State makes a move up toward the top. But I kind of need to see it from them first. I've seen it from Michigan. So right now I'd probably put Michigan third behind Ohio State and Oregon. I think those are the two best teams in the Big Ten. The Ohio State team to me just looks loaded. I mean, it looks like really from the time that Michigan won that national championship until now,

Everything that has been going on at Ohio State has been aimed at building a team that can beat Michigan. Basically, a team that can do what Michigan did last year, watching Michigan win a national championship last

But I'm sure it was really, really hard for people in Columbus who have had great teams over the last decade and haven't been able to do that. So I think Ohio State, number one, I am pretty high on Oregon. I think they're going to be a factor coming in year one in the Big Ten. And then Michigan, to me, is a little bit of a wild card. I think they could be in the mix, but too many questions on offense for me to put Michigan at the level of Ohio State or Oregon.

All right, Austin, appreciate the time. Great stuff. Good updates. Just a lot happening with that Michigan program right now. And thank you for taking the time to hop on and kind of straighten some of it out with us. All right, guys, appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Austin Meek covers the Michigan Wolverines for the Athletic at ByAustinMeek. Follow him on Twitter. Find his work at The Athletic. Great stuff there. Just a lot going on, a lot happening as far as Michigan, their head coach, their team, their program, the Big Ten.

Just add it to the list of reasons that this college football season is going to be immaculate. All right. I want to follow up one item quickly on the coaches poll that came out yesterday, and then we'll dive into Georgia, why they're going to be in the college football playoff. And maybe we need to rephrase it for this team today as to why.

What could happen that could keep them out of the playoff? Is there anything? We'll discuss it right after this on McIlroy and Kubelik in the morning. Catch up with all things McIlroy and Kubelik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts.

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