Report: More Details Following Michigan Football Coach Firing

This morning, University of Michigan football coach Chris Partridge, a key member of the 2023 Jim Harbaugh-led coaching staff in Ann Arbor, was fired by the school amid investigation. Soon after, a new ESPN report via Tom VanHaaran shed more light on why Partridge was let go by the school.

Michigan football coach Chris Partridge fired in mid-November

Now, first things first, the University of Michigan football program released the following statement (below), in which is says that it cannot comment on why Partridge was fired. That said, per sources in a new ESPN report, there are two new details that may have contributed to Michigan’s decision to move on from Partridge the morning before playing Maryland and just eight days before facing Ohio State.

A statement from the University of Michigan following the Chris Partridge firing: pic.twitter.com/5M5QaDZ9BJ

— CJ Mangum (@cjmangum_) November 17, 2023

Report sheds light on two new details

In ESPN’s morning report, which was published just minutes after Michigan football announced that it had released Chris Partridge, two details are uncovered, per their sources.

First — Chris Partridge was not fully cooperative with the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan football for Connor Stalions’ illegal sign-stealing circle. It is not clarified what exactly that means, but non-cooperation is a big deal to the NCAA and could be a major reason that Michigan decided to let him go in the middle of the season. “A source told ESPN that Partridge’s firing stemmed from his lack of cooperation with the NCAA investigation,” the report reads.

Second — it sounds like the investigation is uncovering things in the player/coach interview phase. “Information gleaned in NCAA interviews led in part to the acceptance of the Big Ten decision and Partridge’s firing, sources told ESPN,” the report reads.

For the time being, there are still no more specifics on what Partridge did or what his firing means for Jim Harbaugh and Michigan football. Regardless, the Wolverines have a game to focus on — against Maryland on Saturday — which could be Michigan’s 1,000th all-time win. In addition, next weekend is “The Game,” which will likely pit two undefeated top-3 teams against one another for the Big Ten title for the second season in a row.

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