It wasn’t your usual Friday in the middle of training camp.
While Michigan prepared for its second scrimmage of the preseason, the NCAA issued a blistering 74-page report on its two-year probe of the Wolverines’ football program and extraordinary advance scouting operation.
Several of the major players (Connor Stalions, Jim Harbaugh) are no longer in Ann Arbor, but that didn’t stop the NCAA from issuing a hefty monetary fine, a suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh and other restrictions.
Here’s what we learned from the report.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel stands on the field before Michigan hosts Fresno State at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com1. A hammer? Not quite
But it hit hard enough. Michigan was portrayed as a rogue, rule-breaking football program eligible to receive a multi-year postseason ban. Instead, the Wolverines got hit in other ways: Four years of additional probation, fines estimated to top $35 million, recruiting restrictions and a three-game suspension for its current head coach, Sherrone Moore, who is now considered a repeat violator of NCAA rules. There was no vacating of wins or national titles as some critics had hoped. But the NCAA will try to hit Michigan in the pocketbook in hopes it will deter any further funny business.
Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore walks into Michigan Stadium during Michigan football’s Spring Game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 19, 2025.Jackson Ranger | MLive.com2. Three games, not two for Moore
Michigan had its proposed two-game suspension of head coach Sherrone Moore for the 2025 season approved, but the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions tacked on one more game — the 2026 season opener — for good measure. Enough? Probably. While Moore’s alleged violation seemed inconsequential in nature (deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Connor Stalions), it was his dishonesty with NCAA enforcement that got him in trouble again. As a result, Moore will indeed have to sit out Michigan’s Sept. 13 game against Central Michigan and Sept. 20 Big Ten opener at Nebraska, allowing him to coach the season opener and Week 2 showdown at Oklahoma, his alma mater.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, front left, watches against Rutgers as analytics assistant Connor Stalions, right, looks on during an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Sept. 23, 2023. Stalions was suspended by the university last week and is at the center of a sign-stealing scheme that is being investigated by the NCAA. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP3. Stalions stayed loyal to Michigan
While this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise given his loyalty to the maize and blue, Connor Stalions was portrayed as unreliable and, at times, uncooperative with NCAA investigators, who didn’t know what to believe at times. Stalions was candid and open in some instances, while proving to be uncooperative and unhelpful in others. But there’s no mistaking his dedication to Michigan football: Stalions was caught on a recorded phone conversation telling a player that his personal cell phone and computer hard drive with game film were at “the bottom of a pond,” making sure no one at the NCAA could use it as evidence.
Michigan Wolverines linebackers coach Chris Partridge during the game against Indiana in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, October 14, 2023. Christina Merrill | MLive.com Christina Merrill | MLive.com4. Chris Partridge cleared
Among all the drama in fall 2023, when the NCAA began investigating Stalions and Michigan’s advance scouting ring, Chris Partridge may have emerged the cleanest. The former assistant coach was fired by Michigan in November 2023 for violating a school policy not to openly speak about an open NCAA investigation. Turns out, according to video footage and a witness statement, he didn’t. Partridge instead encouraged a Michigan football player who was preparing for an interview with NCAA enforcement to seek outside counsel. The NCAA cleared his name on Friday, electing not to punish Partridge for what it deemed was a minor Level II violation. Now an outside linebackers coach for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, Partridge issued a public statement celebrating his exoneration while claiming he was wrongfully terminated. No word yet if he plans to pursue legal action against Michigan.
Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during a celebration of Michigan football’s national championship at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com5. Harbaugh vs. compliance
An overriding theme throughout the report, a feud had built between Jim Harbaugh and his Michigan football staff and the school’s compliance office during Harbaugh’s time in Ann Arbor. Elizabeth Heinrich, the school’s chief compliance officer, told the NCAA that she was viewed as a “roadblock” and “thorn in (Harbaugh’s) side” while the football program went out of their way to push the boundaries when it came to rules. In fact, one Harbaugh staffer described the compliance staff as “shi-(expletive) at their jobs and actively working against us from the inside. True scum of the Earth.”
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