The wrongful termination lawsuit former Michigan assistant football coach Chris Partridge brought against the University of Michigan, its Board of Regents and athletic director Warde Manuel in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, sheds some light on an NCAA investigation into the football program and suggests Partridge was collateral damage.
An NCAA investigation into an illegal scouting scheme orchestrated by football staff member Connor Stalions was launched in mid-October 2023. The Big Ten became involved when the NCAA shared some of its findings and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti ultimately suspended then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three regular-season games for a violation of the league’s sportsmanship policy.
Partridge was fired Nov. 17, 2023, and in his termination letter, Manuel said it was because the university had evidence Partridge failed to “abide by the University directive not to discuss an ongoing NCAA investigation with anyone associated with the Michigan Football Program.”
Partridge and his lawyers are fighting what they described in the lawsuit as a false narrative that cost him his job. He currently is on the Seattle Seahawks staff and delayed filing while the Seahawks pursued a Super Bowl. He is hopeful this suit clears his name.
“When I got fired and people were saying all this crap about me, like destroying evidence and lying, I never said a word,” Partridge told The Detroit News on Wednesday. “I waited till after the (2023) season even to put that statement out, and then I still never talked, because even after what happened, I just always wanted to do the right thing by the players and the coaches and the team. Why I waited till now, I wasn’t going to do this in the middle of the season and take away from that or the Super Bowl run. I decided to put that on hold, wait and then now’s the good time to do it.”
Michigan on Wednesday declined comment regarding the lawsuit.
In an effort to challenge Petitti and the Big Ten, Harbaugh and his lawyers prepared for an injunction hearing. Two days before the hearing involving Harbaugh, whose lawyers had been collaborating with the university’s General Counsel and outside counsel to strategize, Petitti, on Nov. 15, 2023, “presented Manuel with uncorroborated, second-hand, inflammatory information and threatened to embarrass Michigan by presenting this information in open court at the injunction hearing,” the lawsuit alleges.
Petitti also suggested to Manuel, according to the suit, that Washtenaw County Circuit Court would deny Michigan’s and Harbaugh’s request for an injunction so that he could resume coaching the rest of the regular season after being suspended Nov. 11 for the Penn State game. Harbaugh and the lawyers, unaware of this interaction between Petitti and Manuel, continued to prepare for the injunction hearing.
“At some point on November 15, 2023, Manuel offered to fire Partridge and to dismiss Michigan and Harbaugh’s legal claims against the Big Ten and Petitti,” Partridge’s lawsuit reads. “In exchange, Petitti agreed not to publicly disclose the sensationalized information he had shared with Manuel, to issue a positive public statement about the parties resolving their dispute, and to do nothing further regarding the NCAA’s ‘sign-stealing’ investigation.”
The next day, in a release, Michigan accepted the Big Ten’s suspension of Harbaugh.
On Nov. 17, Partridge was fired. Manuel met with Partridge and told him he had been informed Partridge advised a player not to be forthright with information involving the NCAA investigation.
“Partridge denied this and tried to correct Manuel,” according to the lawsuit, “but Manuel refused to let him speak.” Manuel did indicate there was no evidence Partridge was involved in Stalions’ sign-stealing scheme.
At least one athletic department employee and one member of the Board of Regents, the suit claims, “falsely” told local and national sportswriters that Partridge had been fired for destroying evidence on Stalions’ computer.
Harbaugh, after learning of Partridge’s firing, wanted in writing to make clear he was not consulted about and was involved in the decision and sent an email to Manuel.
The lawsuit said the damage to Partridge’s reputation in the aftermath of his firming made other coaches “hesitant” to hire him. According to the suit, a Division I head coach was willing to hire Partridge, and the suit alleges Manuel told the other school’s athletic director he should not hire Partridge.
In February 2024, Partridge was hired by Seattle as outside linebackers coach.
achengelis@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Chris Partridge’s lawsuit suggests he was collateral damage in UM sign-stealing case
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
