DETROIT — Michigan athletics, in the aftermath and fallout from the hiring — and resignation three days later — of Shemy Schembechler, whose social media platforms were rife with his amplification of racist commentary on Twitter, has replaced the company it uses to vet social media accounts of potential hires.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, meeting with reporters Thursday after he spoke at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp on Wayne State’s campus, described what he read on Schembechler’s social media as “offensive.”
Schembechler, a longtime NFL scout fired in February by the Raiders — and the son of late Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler — announced May 17 on Twitter that he had been hired as an assistant recruiting director at Michigan. Three days later, Harbaugh and athletic director Warde Manuel announced Schembechler resigned after the offending tweets were unearthed and widely circulated on social media.
His Twitter timeline had a number of posts and “likes” of multiple offensive and insensitive posts, including several suggesting slavery and Jim Crow were a positive to strengthen Black individuals and families. He had scrubbed more than 2,000 “likes” and retweets from his Twitter timeline shortly before his resignation was announced. His Twitter profile has been deactivated.
“Once we became aware of things that were just offensive — offensive to me, offensive to other members of our team — we didn’t want that mindset around,” Harbaugh said Thursday. “Disappointing. I’ve known Shem a long time, but there are no sacred cows. That’s not who we are. That’s not us.
Harbaugh said a company, which he did not name, handles the vetting of social media accounts of a prospective hire. He said he read the report on Schembechler and there was nothing alarming from what the company shared.
“We’ve got to be better,” Harbaugh said. “I’ll take responsibility for that. If somebody can find that in a day, then we have to be able to be on it ourselves. Sometimes, you’ve got to do stuff yourself.”
Harbaugh said another company has been hired to handle vetting social media accounts, and Michigan football spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed the move.
“Our athletic department is changing the vendor that handles our (human resources) background checks following the Schembechler resignation,” Ablauf said in a text on Thursday. “We currently utilize two background checks for vetting athletic department staff but are re-evaluating that process moving forward.”
Harbaugh reflects on Holocaust Museum visit
Last October, Michigan running back Donovan Edwards retweeted a video post of musician Kanye West making antisemitic comments.
Edwards twice posted apologies on social media, initially describing his retweet as a “glitch,” and in another post said: “I would like to make it clear: I apologize for mistakenly retweeting a message that was so hurtful to so many especially those in the Jewish Community.”
Also that day, Michigan regent Jordan Acker, after discussions with Harbaugh and running backs coach Mike Hart, said he invited the team to the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills. The team made that visit in April.
“Very impactful,” Harbaugh said Thursday. “There’s so much to learn. Those who want to learn, learn. That was really impactful insight on history. You learn more than you knew before. I recommend that.”
He was asked if the visit was impactful for Edwards. Harbaugh said it wasn’t about singling out Edwards.
“It was for all of us,” Harbaugh said. “I felt we all benefited greatly.”
Harbaugh credited Acker for recommending the team make the visit to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust.
“Jordan was amazing. Understanding that things people don’t know until they know,” Harbaugh said. “I applaud him for suggesting it, for hosting us and teaching us all, because we care about our fellow man. We don’t want to do anything that’s offensive to anybody. We’re for everybody.”