PeterWelsh281.algo

In 2011, The Detroit News interviewed 12 former Michigan players about Ohio State's "Tattoogate" scandal. Each was asked if the scandal had tainted Ohio State's decade-long run of dominance. 11 said yes, ripping the "immoral" and "corrupt" Buckeyes in their responses. 1 said no, passionately defending the legitimacy of their rival's reign. Mike Hart - still Michigan's all-time leading rusher - went to bat for the Bucks. Hart could have been bitter. He went 0-4 vs. Ohio State, averaging only 65.5 yards per game in 4 starts. Often brash and prodigiously vocal, Hart saw his humbling become a source of mockery in Columbus. 4 years of losing and Buckeye taunting later, Hart had their backs. Every other Wolverine on record had crushed Ohio State for their tattoo mishap. Most dismissed the legitimacy of the Buckeyes' long run of success in the years preceding the scandal. Mike Hart thought it was all nonsense. He argued OSU's success would only be tainted under 2 conditions: 1. If Jim Tressel had paid high school recruits to attend OSU, or otherwise materially violated the recruiting process. 2. If OSU's violations involved on-field cheating in games. In Tattoogate, Buckeye players had been busted for trading their own goods for services. They weren't recruits induced by impermissible benefits. They were enrolled students, already playing for Ohio State. More importantly to Hart, the Buckeye violations were not related to on-field cheating. "Selling their stuff for tattoos isn't making them better players on the field," Hart said. "There wasn't any cheating on the field." Hart conceded the Buckeyes broke rules and had to be punished. But because their violations did not lure players to the school and did not involve cheating on the field of play, the Buckeyes' success was pure and untarnished. Mike Hart was the only Wolverine defending Ohio State in 2011. He knew the Buckeyes were clean. And that the only programs with "tainted titles" are those that cheat in recruiting, or on the field of play... ************ A decade later, Mike Hart returned to Ann Arbor as an assistant coach. In September 2023, a Rutgers staffer called Hart and told him Stalions was going further than anyone else in the sport to steal signs. Disturbed by what he heard, Hart took it to defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Later, Michigan's own 137-page response to the NCAA named Hart as one of three coaches who had been told something was off. The filing does not say what Minter did with it. Stalions stayed and the illegal scheme continued without interruption. Four months later, Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL. Michigan declined to renew Hart's contract. He was the only coach on the ’23 staff not welcome back. ************ Jim Harbaugh is barred from college football until August 2038. Four years for the recruiting case, then ten more for the scouting scheme, stacked back to back. No one in the sport's history has been banned longer. Michigan football staffers from the 2021-2023 seasons have been fired or suspended for misconduct on 24 separate occasions. The school was fined over $30 million for cheating violations, shattering the previous NCAA record of $8 million. (Tennessee) In a 2011 firestorm, Mike Hart was the only one who defended Jim Tressel's Buckeyes. He knew what actual cheating looked like. When he saw it within his own program, he tried to stop it. The school did nothing, then kicked one of its greatest players ever to the curb. Respect, Mike Hart.