Michigan assistants to get a chance at HC

Michigan will give four assistant coaches a chance to be head coach on game day during the three weeks Jim Harbaugh will be serving the school’s self-imposed suspension for violating NCAA rules.

Michigan also announced Thursday that Harbaugh’s 84-year-old father, Jack, will be assistant head coach when the third-ranked Wolverines face East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green at home in September, and strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert will add the title of associate head coach.

The school handed down a three-game suspension to Jim Harbaugh earlier this week as it tries to get out in front of possible NCAA punishment related to an investigation of impermissible contact with recruits during the COVID-19 dead period. Harbaugh will only miss games, not practices.

In is absence, DC Jesse Minter will serve as head coach against East Carolina in the opener Sept. 2.

The next week against UNLV, special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh, Jim’s son, will handle head coaching duties in the first half and RBs coach and former Michigan star Mike Hart will handle them in the second half. OC Sherrone Moore will be acting head coach for Game 3 against Bowling Green.

Soccer: Sweden have knocked the U.S. off the top of the FIFA women’s rankings for the first time in more than six years. The U.S., who have held the No. 1 spot since June 2017, slipped out of the top two for the first time since FIFA introduced the rankings in 2003.

Track and field: Noah Lyles won the 200-meter world title in 19.52 seconds, becoming the first man to complete the 100-200 sprint double at worlds since Usain Bolt did it for the third and final time back in 2015. It was Lyles’ third straight world championship at 200 meters and cemented him as the man to beat at both distances less than a year from now at the Paris Olympics.