Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh has receiving a good deal of criticism after he was reportedly set to hire Michael Johnson Sr., former head football coach at The King's Academy in California, to a position on Michigan's coaching staff.
Johnson did spend 10 seasons coaching in the NFL and one year as the offensive coordinator at UCLA, but many saw the potential hiring as a way to get his son, quarterback Michael Johnson Jr., to commit to Michigan. The younger Johnson is the top dual-threat QB in the 2019 class.
In an appearance on ESPN's Outside the Lines, SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum described the hire as "cheating" and that it was Harbaugh's way to gain a huge recruiting advantage.
"He is an evil genius," Finebaum said. "I think he‘s one of the smartest people I’ve run into in a long time. Most of what he has done is exactly that, genius. He’s going to Rome, I think that’s a wonderful thing to do. What it has to do with football, I’m not sure. But his players get something out of it. But this is wrong. It may not be illegal by NCAA standards and bylaws as of this moment but to me it’s cheating. It’s blatantly disregarding the spirit of the NCAA rule. We all know why he’s doing it. This is the same person who last year accused Nick Saban of cheating, he accused Hugh Freeze of cheating and in my mind, and I know you can’t prove it and he won’t be penalized for it, he’s cheating. Why don’t we just face up to it? There’s no other reason why he would hire this man. It’s been done in the past. … But it’s still wrong. I don’t know why the media celebrates Jim Harbaugh for disregarding the NCAA rule book and doing things in my mind are unethical."
Well, Harbaugh didn't take to kindly to those comments and shot back at Finebaum on Twitter, calling him the "unabashed SEC water carrier" who needs to "get his facts straight."
Pete Finebaum, the unabashed SEC water carrier, really needs to get his facts straight. #AlternativeFacts
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) February 17, 2017
Those facts Harbaugh is talking about? Michael Johnson Sr. is set to be hired as the new wide receivers coach at Oregon, not at Michigan.
Hearing that former King's Academy coach Michael Johnson is set be hired as the new WR coach at #Oregon. #PeteFinebaum #Clueless
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) February 17, 2017
The elder Johnson was Harbaugh's quarterbacks coach with the San Diego Chargers in 2000, the last year in which he played a game in the NFL.
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