Michigan Football QB JJ McCarthy Exposes Jim Harbaugh!

Michigan Wolverine QB JJ McCarthy explained Michigan's Sign Stealing Scandal with the excuse that "other schools, like Ohio State Football, had our signals so we had to level the playing field" which is wild because Michigan blatantly broke rules and violated NCAA rules while it seems other schools did not. Is this an appropriate excuse for a disregard of rules? Is this indication that the coaches did know, and their excuse to the team for why they were doing it?