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Thursday, August 15, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Harbaugh calls Fickell’s claims “erroneous” amid Hudson transfer saga

Michigan 
coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh 
fired 
back 
at 
Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell 
on Tuesday evening, after 
Fickell 
scolded 
Harbaugh 
for his role in the handling 
of 
tackle 
James 
Hudson’s 
transfer 
and 
immediate 
eligibility waiver.
Hudson, who transferred 
from Michigan to Cincinnati 
last 
October, 
was 
denied 
his petition for immediate 
eligibility 
after 
speaking 
out about his struggle with 
depression while at Michigan.
“Here’s what I believe in 
the whole waiver process: the 
number one, most important 
thing, and all the power, comes 
from the school that a kid 
is leaving. No matter what,” 
Fickell 
told 
The 
Athletic. 
“(Michigan) didn’t back the 
waiver. They can say what they 
want to say, but the only thing 
they said that was positive was 
that if the NCAA chooses to 
make (Hudson) eligible, then 
they would accept it — that 
they didn’t have an angle. They 
are just trying to cover their 
ass. And I’m really, completely 
disappointed in it.”
Harbaugh 
refuted 
that 
claim, noting that it’s within 
the NCAA’s purview -- not 
Michigan’s -- to determine 
Hudson’s 
eligibility, 
and 
that 
Michigan 
did nothing to 
deter 
Hudson’s 
chances.
“I 
read 
Luke 
Fickell’s 
comments 
and 
unless 
I’m 
reading 
them 
wrong 
or 
mistaking 
them, I believe 
he’s under the 
impression that these waivers 
are decided coach to coach in 
some kind of deal fashion. And 
that’s not the understanding 
that I’m under. I’m under the 
understanding that the NCAA 
decides these waivers. Unless 
he has something that he can 
bring forth and share and 
enlighten us and the entire 
football world, I would really 
like to know what that is.
“Erroneous, 
erroneous,” 

Harbaugh then said Tuesday, 
of 
Fickell’s 
assertions. 
“Michigan did not block the 
waiver, no. We wish James 
Hudson well but that is not 
in the coach’s hands, it’s not 
in the university’s hands. It’s 
not in his hands. It’s the way 
the process works right now. 
Those 
waivers 
are decided by 
the NCAA.”
The 
NCAA’s 
decision 
on 
Hudson 
comes 
amid 
a 
flurry 
of 
inquiries 
from 
transfers, 
some of whom 
successfully 
gain 
eligibility 
while others fail 
to do so. Michigan quarterback 
Shea Patterson, of course, was 
granted immediate eligibility 
to play last season after leaving 
Ole Miss, which was under 
heavy NCAA sanctions at the 
time. This year, Ohio State 
quarterback 
Justin 
Fields 
will be immediately eligible, 
leaving Georgia after he was 
subjected to racist comments 
from a baseball player.
The 
NCAA’s 
rulings 
in 

these situations have become 
notoriously 
difficult 
to 
predict. The NCAA provision 
states that a player can receive 
immediate eligibility if “the 
transfer is due to documented 
mitigating 
circumstances 
that are outside the student-
athlete’s control and directly 
impact the health, safety and 
well-being of the student-
athlete.”
Hudson and Fickell certainly 
felt his circumstances met 
those criteria, though Hudson 
never expressed his feelings 
of 
depression 
to 
school 
administrators. 
This 
public 
back 
and 
forth comes just weeks after 
Harbaugh insinuated players 
often feel the need to fabricate 
reasons 
to 
seek 
eligibility 
-- comments that drew the 
ire of those who felt he was 
directly suggesting Hudson 
misrepresented 
his 
mental 
health.
“And the other piece that 
bothers me about it is, the 
youngster that says ‘this is 
a mental health issue, I’m 
suffering from depression.’ Or 
that’s a reason to get eligible,” 
Harbaugh said at Big Ten 

Media Days, in the context 
of 
post-transfer 
eligibility.. 
And once that’s known that 
‘Hey, say this or say that’ to 
get eligible. The problem I see 
in that is you’re going to have 
guys that are ‘OK, yeah, I’m 
depressed.’
Glenda 
Hudson, 
James’ 
mother, recalled 
to The Athletic 
receiving a text 
from 
her 
son 
shortly after.
“My son text 
me and told me, 
‘Coach called me 
a liar, mom,’ she 
said.
Days 
later, 
Harbaugh issued 
a tweet to clarify 
his remarks, stating “My belief 
is that a one-time transfer 
should be allowed for all 
student athletes. I am clearly 
advocating 
for 
rights 
that 
college football players have 
not had.” He reiterated that 
stance Tuesday, which, were 
it NCAA policy, would render 
this entire situation moot.
But it’s not. And Harbaugh 
said Tuesday that when Fickell 
initially reached out to him to 

discuss Hudson’s situation, 
Fickell “tried to coach me 
into saying it differently”, 
presumably in an attempt to 
sway the NCAA toward a more 
lenient ruling. 
“I called him to say that I 
don’t know what’s going on 
with all these waivers, but I 
know James is 
here,” 
Fickell 
told 
The 
Athletic. 
“Are 
you guys going 
to be vindictive 
against him, or 
do you want to 
help this kid?”
“And I told 
him, ‘Coach I 
mean I believe 
you’re 
telling 
the 
truth, 
forthright,’ 
” 
Harbaugh recalled. “ ‘What 
I told James, what I told 
you, what I told compliance 
is going to be the truth.’ As 
I said, I read the article. He 
asked a question in the article, 
‘What’s 
most 
important: 
personal beliefs or what’s in 
the best interest of the kid?’ 
And I can answer that. What’s 
most important is the truth.”

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh denies any interference with tackle James Hudson’s transfer and preaches truth and integrity.

I’m under the 
understanding 
that the NCAA 
decides ...

I can answer 
that. What’s 
most important 
is the truth.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor

