"Don't think that Michigan is fighting this hard" - Former Chargers LB delivers verdict on Jim Harbaugh & Co's sign-stealing scandal

The Michigan Wolverines, under former coach Jim Harbaugh, navigated the now-LA Chargers coach's last season in Ann Arbor amid various scandals. However, the most damaging one involved the sign-stealing allegations allegedly orchestrated by former staffer Connor Stalions.

Despite Harbaugh's departure for the NFL, the NCAA has continued to hound the Wolverines and hit them with Level I violations in August. During Sunday's segment of the "Bobby Carpenter Show," former Ohio State Buckeyes star Joshua Perry weighed in on Michigan's longstanding sign-stealing scandal and its tussle with the NCAA.

"I'm under the impression that I do think it's difficult to discredit your national champions and your sports because it's the most important thing you do," Perry said. "I also don't think that Michigan is fighting this hard if they didn't think that this could be something that could punish them harshly.

"You would never take a negotiated resolution if they say, 'Hey, we're gonna vacate this or we're gonna take scholarships for this or the financial fines are something that are gonna hurt you.'

"Especially going into the days where schools are gonna be revenue sharing. Money is at a premium right now, so I think that's part of the reason that they're fighting this thing.

"It's also interesting there's a big tone change from 'Connor Stalions is this lone wolf who was doing weird stuff that we had no idea about' to deleted text messages and 'I can't believe someone would do that to our program' to 'Well, we tried to tell the one low-level manager not to rent the car and drive down to Georgia because we knew that this guy was up to no good.'"

Perry spent one season with the Chargers after being drafted by them.

Michigan fights back against the NCAA

In a report uncovered by Yahoo Sports last week, the Michigan Wolverines fought back against the NCAA in a 137-page document that accuses the authority of overstepping its bounds in the sign-stealing scandal that was solidified by the Level I Notice of Allegations leveled against the program in August.

In the document, the Wolverines defended their former coach Jim Harbaugh, who was accused of being uncooperative by the NCAA during the investigation, coach Sherrone Moore and even former staffer Connor Stalions.

“There were numerous factually unsupported infractions, exaggerates aggravating factors and ignores mitigating facts with minimal relevance to competition,” the document by Michigan aimed at the NCAA stated.

The tussle between the NCAA and the Wolverines is bound to continue after coach Sherrone Moore was accused of deleting 52 text messages between himself and Stalions on the day the news of the investigation broke.