Sign-stealing scheme exposed: In reaction to a formal notice of allegations, the lawyers for Connor Stalions, the former Michigan staff member at the center of an NCAA investigation into claims of illegal scouting, slammed the investigation as “one-sided, biased, and crooked.”
Attorneys Brad Beckworth and Nathan Hall told The Athletic, “This investigation has been a witch hunt from the start, meant to bring shame on Michigan and Coach (Jim) Harbaugh.” “Connor is being used as a scapegoat by the NCAA to show that it still has a place in the world of sports today.”
The NCAA sent Michigan a formal notice of allegations on Sunday, which the school verified. The school didn’t say anything about what was in the NOA, but a person familiar with the probe said that the formal accusations are mostly the same as they were in the draft notice Michigan got earlier this month.
Harbaugh is facing a Level I charge, which is the worst punishment the NCAA can give, and Moore, the coach of Michigan, is facing a Level II charge for reportedly deleting text messages with the Stallions. The state of Michigan is also being charged with a Level I crime. The NCAA said in a statement that it will not comment on the details “to protect the integrity of the infractions process as the case progresses.” They did confirm that they sent Michigan the notice of the allegations.
Someone who used to work for Michigan and quit in November, Stalions, is accused of breaking an NCAA rule that doesn’t allow in-person scouting by recording signals from other teams on their cellphones using tickets that were bought in Stalions’ name. His lawyers say that Stallions did not break the rule about in-person scouting because he wasn’t in the stands.
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The Stallions lawyers argued, ‘The NOA says Connor’s friends & relatives had been sending him a video from the games they attended w/ tickets he purchased.’ ‘It’s not a violation of FBS rules.’ The concluding part of the lawyers’ comments was that ‘the only scouting that occurred in this case was behind Connor’s computer on the Michigan campus.’
The statement does not address the cock and bull story circulating that Stalions was disguised as someone else for a 2023 match-up against Central Michigan. This would be a violation of the in-person scouting rule again.
The NOA gives everyone 90 days to reply. Lawyers for Stalions said that the team will fight the claims at an NCAA meeting, and a person familiar with the investigation said that Michigan is likely to do the same. Two other people named in the NOA—former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and former assistant personnel director Denard Robinson—are also likely to try to reach an agreement through negotiations.
The full NOA came a few days before the Netflix documentary “Sign Stealer,” which tells Stalions’ side of the story, came out on Tuesday. In a statement to The Athletic, Stalions’ lawyers disagreed with the NCAA’s claim that Stalions had not helped with the investigation, pointing to papers he gave them and an interview he had with NCAA investigators as proof. The lawyers for the Stallion said that evidence gathered by a third-party investigation firm looking into Michigan’s sign-stealing operation was gained through a computer hack, but they haven’t shown any proof to back up that claim.
Stallions recently agreed to work as the defensive coach at Mumford High School in Detroit as a volunteer. His lawyers wrote, “Connor has been through enough pain.” “Everyone needs to move on.”
Saturday is Moore’s first game as full-time head coach of Michigan. The game is against Fresno State. Moore has said that the school is fully cooperating with the NCAA probe. This month, Moore was asked about his texts with Stalions. He said, “I’ll just say this: I look forward to them being released.”
Moore got a one-game suspension last season due to another allegation of recruiting violations that occurred during the COVID-19 dead period. That investigation earned Harbaugh, now the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, a four-year “show cause” order. Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten for the last three regular-season games in 2023 because he violated the league’s post-season rules of fairness, during Stalions case.
Human beings who are implicated in the Stallions case might be subjected to more severe penalties if they are found to have violated the same NCAA regulations in the future but those penalties will only be administered after going through through the infraction process. They explained to respondents the FIT approach could take up to one year when handed over to their experts.
Contents
FAQs
Q1. What happened with taking Michigan signs?
A. Michigan’s ongoing problems have been linked to sign-stealing, but the program is also being looked into for supposedly breaking NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1, which says that member schools can’t scout future opponents off-campus.
Q2. Is Michigan still being looked into by the NCAA for sign-stealing?
A. That the NCAA is still looking into it. A listener asked Staples what was going on and he said, “I talked to someone involved with this situation the other day, and the NCAA is still trying to gather information.” He says it looks like there’s no end in sight, which might be good for Michigan.
Q3. Why did Michigan get in trouble?
A. Michigan was fined, put on three years of probation, and had its recruiting limited by the NCAA on Tuesday. This was because, during the COVID-19 pandemic, football coaches and staff had inappropriate contact with recruits and players while Jim Harbaugh was coach.
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