If there’s one thing Paul Finebaum has never worried about, it’s making enemies. Whether fans like it or not, he’s built a career on saying the quiet part out loud. Michigan fans have been on his bad side before, but this time, he didn’t just criticize the Wolverines but also dragged back Jim Harbaugh’s controversial national championship win. 

“Michigan fans are just, they’re not worth the time,” Paul Finebaum said during his appearance with Brooks Austin on AM 1300 The Zone during SEC Kickoff media days. “They think college football revolved around them, and they’ve won, I think, two and a half national championships in 70 years. And they cheated to get the last one.”

Finebaum commented about Michigan’s 2023 sign-stealing scandal. Former staffer Connor Stalions was accused of traveling to opponents’ games and secretly picking up their sideline signals over several seasons. Jim Harbaugh was hit with a three-game suspension, even though he denied knowledge of the whole thing. Then he left college football for the Los Angeles Chargers. 

The NCAA later handed Harbaugh a 10-year show-cause order, adding to the penalties that already pushed him out of college football. That’s what Paul Finebaum was referencing. 

But say what you want about that championship. One thing hasn’t changed. Michigan is still one of college football’s biggest brands, and nobody’s taking that history away.  The Wolverines own 1,022 all-time wins, most in FBS history, and rank among the sport’s highest winning percentages.

The problem, as Paul Finebaum sees it, isn’t the win column but the championship column. Michigan already has 12 national championships under its belt. Only three of the claimed national titles have come since 1948.  That’s why people have continued to argue about that 2023 title. Michigan beat Washington 34-13 in Houston and finished the job on the field. Nobody could take that away.

However, the sign-stealing scandal never really left the conversation. Since then, Michigan has faced investigations, coaching changes, and leadership turnover in its athletic department.

Michigan still keeps finding itself in bad headlines 

Athletic director Warde Manuel announced he would step down at the end of the calendar year, closing a tenure that included some of the biggest controversies in modern Michigan athletics. The school also released the results of an internal review into its athletic department.

“Neither the investigation nor the culture review found that misconduct was widespread throughout the department,” the report stated. “The culture review found that weaknesses in accountability, organizational structure, oversight, and reporting created conditions in which misconduct was not always addressed consistently, promptly, or in accordance with university expectations.”

Michigan has already started the reset. Following Sherrone Moore’s departure after last season, the Wolverines turned to Kyle Whittingham. After 22 seasons and a 177-88 record, the former Utah coach arrives with a reputation for disciplined, physical football and elite defensive teams. That’s the blueprint the program believes can steady the ship again. But that doesn’t make the talk go away.

Right or wrong, Michigan’s biggest moment in decades is still linked to the sign-stealing scandal. Until they win another national title without that cloud hanging over them, people like Paul Finebaum will keep bringing it up. And Michigan fans will keep having to answer the same questions.