Former NFL wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. is loyal to his Buckeye roots, but the ex-San Francisco 49ers player has no problem praising his former Niners coach, Jim Harbaugh.
During an appearance on OutKick’s "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich" on Tuesday, Ginn Jr. spoke highly of his time with the now-Michigan head coach during the 2011 and 2012 seasons in which the 49ers advanced to the NFC Championship Game twice and the Super Bowl once.
"Playing for Harbaugh was awesome," Ginn said.
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He suggested that the success the team saw was because Harbaugh allowed the roster to "be what it was."
"He was a player’s coach. That’s the only thing I can really say … all the little things that you’re supposed to do as a pro coach when you’ve got a superstar team like we had at the time."
"He just showed us a lot of leadership within ourselves, and it's probably like that over there in that locker room right now," Ginn continued. "If the right guys are there, and they know how to lead, it's going to be up to them, and then he’s going to lead from how they lead in a situation. So, he’s a great guy to play under."
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Ginn went on to seemingly reference the current situation facing Michigan and Harbaugh amid allegations against the program for an in-person scouting scheme, saying, "[E]very spot that he goes he brings trouble in some type of way."
Earlier this month, Harbaugh was sidelined by the Big Ten Conference for the remainder of the regular season over his alleged involvement in what the conference called an "organized" and "extensive" in-person scouting scheme.
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In a letter to the program, Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti said the conference believed that Michigan "violated the Sportsmanship Policy because a University football staff member engaged in an organized, extensive, years-long in-person advance scouting scheme that was impermissible," referencing former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who resigned this month as a result of the investigation.
Through his attorneys, Harbaugh has denied having any knowledge of the alleged scheme and even contended that other schools in the conference were stealing signs.
Just last week before Michigan’s game against Maryland, the university announced that Harbaugh would accept the three-game suspension and continue to work with the NCAA in its investigation.
"Coach Harbaugh, with the university’s support, decided to accept this sanction to return the focus to our student-athletes and their performance on the field," Michigan said in a statement. "The conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations. The university continues to cooperate fully with the NCAA’s investigation."
Michigan closes out the regular season at Ohio State on Saturday.
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