As crazy as it sounds, no team is more prepared to handle scandal than Michigan football

I know the perfect way to settle this Michigan football sign-stealing controversy.

Bring in Tom Cruise to be the lawyer and put Jack Nicholson up on the stand — “You can’t handle the truth!”

Of course, it’s got to be tried in front of Judge Judy.

“I don't know exactly how it's how it's gonna go,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said of the Friday hearing at the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, which will decide if he can coach on Saturday against Maryland — Harbaugh, not Col. Jessup.

“That's not my dance floor,” Harbaugh said. “I'm not an attorney, always wanted to be. I watched a lot of shows. I watched ‘Judge Judy,’ you know, a lot; and always kind of felt like it'd be cool to get up there and thunder away at a jury like Tom Cruise in “A few Good Men,” or be a judge like Judge Judy.”

Harbaugh was addressing the media on Monday at his weekly news conference, talking about Michigan’s impressive win against Penn State — the fourth game that he missed this season because of two separate suspensions.

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So, it was a typical Monday in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh talked about his fantastic football team, which is going for the program’s 1,000th win — spending some time waxing poetic about his pet chickens, yes, chickens, seriously — while doing a verbal dance around the court case.

It’s gotten to the point where it all feels normal.

No matter what you think of sign-stealing scandal, no matter if you think the suspension was a rush to judgement or justified, you have to acknowledge some things about “America’s Team” (Harbaugh’s definition):

∎ The early season suspension did a wonderful job of preparing of this team and this coaching staff for this latest suspension;

∎ This controversy has unified Michigan fans from the president and trustees to the alumni and fan base. Shoot, even Harbaugh’s daughter Grace got into it when she posted a heartfelt message of support on social media. “My daughter Grace, what she wrote, just so special,” Harbaugh said, tapping his heart. “I'm going to remember that until the day they throw dirt overtop of me.”

∎ Harbaugh deserves all sorts of credit for building such a strong program that this absence hardly impacted this team at all.

He has built one of the best teams in the country and he did it the old-fashioned way, by focusing on the trenches, teaching toughness and technique, going into every game with one mindset: to pummel the opponent into submission.

So give Harbaugh credit for recruiting guys like 340-pound defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, who displayed incredible athleticism and effort by chasing down Penn State running back Kaytron Allen on a potential touchdown-saving play.

“I mean, I was up off my feet,” Harbaugh said. “One of the best players of the season ... maybe one of the best plays ever.”

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Prepared for this moment

As odd as it sounds, Michigan was prepared perfectly for this moment.

Harbaugh has built a strong coaching staff that didn’t miss a beat without him on the sideline on Saturday.

Granted, it had some experience of working without him — self-inflicted, of course.

“They handled the situation with flying colors,” Harbaugh said.

It took Harbaugh a long time to find the right mix of coaches for his staff, spending years churning through offensive and defensive coordinators, plugging in different people in different roles. But he has found the right mix.

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And give him credit for having the sense to make offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore the game day head coach.

Moore, by all accounts, is tremendous up-and-coming coach, who connects with the players; and he made some fantastic decisions in this game.

Moore or less, he basically said: Penn State’s offense is pathetic, we are having trouble pass protecting, they can’t stop our run, so there’s no reason to throw it.

So, Michigan ran and ran and ran — 32 straight times.

Granted, Harbaugh certainly had indirect input in that decision. That’s the kind of thing that is usually talked about during the week when the game plan is put together. But Moore embraced it.

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“I have 10 coaches that will be future head coaches,” Harbaugh said. “And Sherrone is — he's the best of the best. His toughness, mental toughness, physical toughness. And there's nobody that doubts Sherrone Moore — his dedication, his connection, his commitment to the team.”

Moore also gives a heck of an entertaining postgame interview. After the game, Moore gave an interview on Fox with tears coming down his cheeks, dropping a pair of F-bombs, which I actually found endearing.

“(Expletive) love you, man,” he said while sobbing. “Love the (expletive) out of you, man. Did this for you.” He hesitated for an instant. “For this university, the president, our AD. We got the best players, best university, best alumni in the country. Love you, guys!”

Harbaugh watched it “five inches from the TV,” he said. “It was beautiful.”

Heading to the courts

So, where does this leave us?

A court will decide on Friday if Harbaugh will coach on the sidelines the rest of the regular season.

But I wonder how much it even matters.

A head coach doesn’t have that much impact on game day — the coordinators do most of the heavy lifting.

Maybe a head coach will make a critical decision on fourth down. Or maybe he will help settle down a frazzled QB. Or maybe he will give an amazing, game-altering halftime speech.

And Harbaugh, certainly, has input on play calling.

But this team is so well coached, and this coaching staff is so used to Harbaugh not being there that it certainly didn’t impact them against Penn State. And it’s hard to argue this hurt the players for the exact same reason.

Will it be tougher against Ohio State? Perhaps.

But no matter what this judge decides, this team and this coaching staff were built to handle it.

They are prepared for anything.

And Harbaugh deserves credit for that.

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

Find everything you need to know about the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal with our weekly Wolverines insider podcast, "Hail Yes," found wherever podcasts are available (Apple, Spotify) and on-demand at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why no team is more prepared to handle scandal than Michigan football