Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh added to lawsuit against former assistant over hacking allegations, per report
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Jim Harbaugh has been added to a lawsuit against a former Michigan assistant who is accused of hacking into the accounts of college athletes around the country and stealing personal, intimate photos, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The class-action lawsuit was brought against the University of Michigan and former U-M co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss following a criminal investigation into Weiss. The suit also named Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and other officials. Harbaugh is alleged to have known that Weiss was accessing private information on a computer in December 2022 but allowed him to continue working in his role through the Wolverines’ College Football Playoff game a week later.
“The university’s delay in taking meaningful protective action until after a high-stakes game sends a clear message: Student welfare was secondary,” lead attorney Parker Stinar said, per the AP.
Harbaugh did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. When charges were brought against Weiss earlier this year, Harbaugh told reporters he didn’t know about the situation until after the team’s Playoff semifinal game.
The lawsuit claims a Michigan football staff member saw Weiss viewing private information inside Schembechler Hall around Dec. 21, 2022, and reported it before Michigan played TCU in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.
In January 2023, Weiss was placed on leave pending an investigation into computer access crimes by university police. He was fired by the school 2 weeks later after failing to attend a meeting to discuss the investigation.
“Had Harbaugh implemented basic oversight of his staff, plaintiffs and the class would have been protected against predators such as Weiss,” the lawsuit states, per the AP. “Instead, Weiss was a highly compensated asset that was promoted by and within the football program, from which position he was able to, and did, target female student-athletes.”
Weiss, a walk-on punter for Vanderbilt in the early 2000s, coached quarterbacks for Michigan from 2021-22. He was hired by Harbaugh after spending more than a decade on the staff of Harbaugh’s brother, John, with the Baltimore Ravens (2009-20).
In March, he was charged with 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft.
Between 2015 and January 2023, Weiss is alleged to have gained unauthorized access to student-athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities. After gaining access to these databases, Weiss allegedly downloaded the personally identifiable information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes and used that information to gain unauthorized access to social media, email, and/or cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 athletes — the majority of whom were women.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal court in Detroit in late March.
According to the AP, thousands of intimate photos and videos were found on Weiss’s electronic devices and cloud storage accounts.
Harbaugh currently serves as the head coach for the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL. He left Michigan following the 2023 season amid an NCAA investigation into allegations of a widespread signal-stealing operation spearheaded by former Michigan assistant Connor Stalions. That investigation is still ongoing.
Despite winning a national championship for the Wolverines in 2023, the end of Harbaugh’s Michigan tenure has been fraught with controversy. He was suspended for 3 games to begin the 2023 season for recruiting violations that occurred during the COVID season in 2020. He was then suspended for another 3 games by the Big Ten for his alleged involvement in the sign-stealing scandal. Michigan has also self-imposed a 2-game suspension for Sherrone Moore — Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator and eventual replacement — for his alleged involvement in the scandal.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
