11
Thursday, July 9, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
Jim Harbaugh ‘never saw’ inappropriate
conduct committed by Dr. Robert Anderson
Jim
Harbaugh
said
he never saw, or heard,
anything
inappropriate
surrounding Dr. Robert
Anderson,
the
former
University
of
Michigan
doctor accused of sexual
abuse by an ever-growing
number
of
people,
including
ex-football
players.
Anderson
was
the
family doctor, Harbaugh
said, as his father, Jack,
was
on
the
Michigan
football
coaching
staff
from 1973-79.
“Also when I played
here
at
Michigan,
Dr.
Anderson was the team
doctor,” Harbaugh said.
“And took a physical for
every youth sport that I
played, and also when I
was here in college for
football, a yearly physical.
Never saw, never anything
inappropriate. Nor did I
ever hear anything that
was inappropriate about
Dr. Anderson.
“Never
experienced
anything
inappropriate,
never
heard
anytime
where
there
was
inappropriate (conduct) by
Dr. Anderson.”
Anderson is alleged to
have abused students and
athletes during medical
exams. Lawsuits filed by
survivors
are
currently
pending, as is a University
investigation done by an
outside firm, WilmerHale.
The University has said
it wants to settle claims
out of court, setting up a
hotline number for victims
to call with allegations.
Athletic director Warde
Manuel has also come
under fire for his handling
of a complaint regarding
the case, forwarding it to
University lawyers instead
of Title IX investigators.
In mid-June, Michigan
reached out via email and
the postal service to over
300,000
students
who
attended the University
while Anderson worked
there, asking alumni to
report experiences with
him.
“I am writing to ask
you to come forward and
speak to WilmerHale if
you had any experience
with Anderson you wish
to report or if you have
any
other
information
you
believe
may
be
relevant,”
University
President Mark Schlissel
wrote.
“Safeguarding
the
confidentiality
of
Dr.
Anderson’s
former
patients is of paramount
importance. Accordingly,
WilmerHale
will
not
disclose any identifying
or
confidential
patient
information
to
the
University, and the identity
and
confidentiality
of
Dr. Anderson’s patients
will be protected from
disclosure to others to the
fullest extent permitted
by law.
Contract extension discussions for Harbaugh
tabled as a result of COVID-19 pandemic
There’s
no
reason
to
believe
a
contract
extension
won’t
come
for Jim Harbaugh. And,
according to the Michigan
football
coach,
before
the
pandemic
turned
everything upside down,
one was “right there.”
“Right in last February,
it was being discussed, and
then the pandemic hit,”
Harbaugh said on a Zoom
call with reporters. “And
it’s been not as high on the
priority list.”
Harbaugh’s
current
contract, which runs until
the end of the 2021 season,
would see him paid $8.05
million this year if not for
a 10 percent pay cut agreed
to due to the financial
deficit facing the athletic
department.
There’s little reason to
think Michigan wouldn’t
want to retain Harbaugh.
Though he hasn’t taken
the
Wolverines
to
a
College
Football
Playoff
or
beaten
Ohio
State,
Harbaugh
has
piloted
the football program to
three
10-win
seasons
after it hit an extreme low
point under Brady Hoke.
The
Wolverines’
2021
recruiting class is also
eighth in the country, per
247Sports, after a slew of
commitments over the last
few months.
As for his potential to
move jobs, Harbaugh has
consistently
shot
down
rumors of going back to
the NFL, going as far to
send a letter to parents of
Michigan football players
last season to refute a
report that he was planning
to leave.
For his part, Harbaugh
seems
content
with
the
current
situation,
understanding
the
financial constraints that
Michigan
is
currently
under.
There’s
also
the
obvious reality for both
him and the University
that a massive contract
extension for a football
coach amid a pandemic
that’s seen the athletic
department project a $26.1
million deficit, when no
one knows whether there
will be football played in
September, would be poor
optics at best and tone deaf
at worst.
“I
think
there’s
bigger fish to fry for our
athletic director, for our
administration, for, really,
me as a coach,” Harbaugh
said. “It hasn’t been on the
top of the priority list. But
I would expect something.
That
would
be
an
announcement at sometime
when that is said. I’m under
contract this year and next.
So we’ll get to that.”
MADDIE HINKLEY/Daily
Jim Harbaugh never heard of any problems with Dr. Anderson in his experiences with the doctor.
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
MADDIE HINKLEY/Daily
Jim Harbaugh did not sign a contract extension this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I think
there’s bigger
fish to fry