Michigan’s football sign-stealing scandal expanded in a troubling new direction on Friday, as the university fired an assistant coach who had been connected to the staff member at the center of the controversy involving an impermissible off-campus scouting scheme.

The dismissal of Chris Partridge, a recruiting guru who served as the team’s linebackers coach, came less than a day after Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh made a shocking pivot by agreeing to accept his three-game suspension from the Big Ten.

University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh spoke Thursday for the first time since media reports revealed he’s likely to face a four-game suspension this fall for violating NCAA rules.

“[I’m] not allowed to talk about any aspect of that ongoing situation. And I’m with you. I’d love to lay it all out there. Nothing to be ashamed of, but now is not that time. And that’s about all there is to say about that,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh appeared at the Big Ten media days in Indianapolis, shown on the Big Ten Network.

Michigan Radio sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about announcement and possible repercussions.

John U. Bacon: I do. And stay tuned. In a nutshell, it boils down to this: The NCAA has accused Michigan of four Level 2 violations.

Things like buying two recruits, who are already going to Michigan, cheeseburgers at the Brown Jug [restaurant in Ann Arbor].

But the Level 1 violation would be lying about that to the NCAA investigators, which is what the NCAA is accusing Harbaugh of. This is getting hashed out as we speak.

JUB: My old joke, Doug, is that the NCAA is very good at misdemeanors and they’re not good at all at felonies.

In this case, the felony is accusing Harbaugh of lying about a misdemeanor. So we’re full circle now. How about that?