released Friday<\/a> by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The COI found \u201coverwhelming evidence\u201d that Michigan engaged in an impermissible scouting scheme but elected not to impose a postseason ban to avoid punishing players on Michigan\u2019s roster.<\/p>\nInstead, Michigan will forfeit postseason revenue for the next two seasons and pay a fine equivalent to 10 percent of the program\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
Former coach Jim Harbaugh, now coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, received a 10-year show-cause order that will take effect after the four-year show cause he received in a previous case. Together, the penalties would effectively prevent Harbaugh from returning to college football until 2038.<\/p>\n
Moore received a two-year show-cause order that includes a total suspension of three games. In addition to a two-game school-imposed suspension in Week 3 and Week 4 of this season, Moore would be suspended for the first game of the 2026 season, currently scheduled to be played in Germany against Western Michigan.<\/p>\n
Connor Stalions, the former staffer at the center of the sign-stealing scheme, received an eight-year show cause that bans him from participating in any athletically related activities at an NCAA school.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Stalions\u2019 lawyer, Brad Beckworth, said Stalions\u2019 punishment was the result of a \u201crigged investigation\u201d about a \u201ccompletely irrelevant rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our opinion that the NCAA decided the penalties for Connor back in the fall of 2023, when they went public about their investigation a few days after it started,\u201d Beckworth said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the backstory?<\/p>\n
Stalions is accused of collecting video footage of opposing teams\u2019 signals shot from the stands by people he recruited to participate in the scheme. The allegations span dozens of games involving other Big Ten teams and potential postseason opponents in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Other teams saw the scheme as a clear-cut violation of a rule that bans in-person scouting of future opponents. However, Stalions\u2019 lawyer has argued he didn\u2019t violate the letter of the law because he wasn\u2019t personally scouting the games.<\/p>\n
The allegations came to light in October 2023, with Michigan undefeated and aiming for a national championship. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, acting on information from the NCAA, suspended Harbaugh for three games, citing violations of the league\u2019s sportsmanship policy. Harbaugh returned to coach Michigan to victories in the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff before leaving to coach the Chargers. Petitti provided a letter to the Committee on Infractions in support of Michigan and reportedly argued that no further sanctions were needed.<\/p>\n
The sign-stealing scandal left many loose threads and unanswered questions. The Washington Post reported in 2023 that the NCAA investigation began when an \u201coutside investigative firm\u201d approached the NCAA with evidence of the scheme, including schedules and budgets obtained from computer drives used by Michigan coaches. The identity of that firm has not been revealed. Michigan has also raised concerns with the NCAA about the use of an anonymous source to substantiate the NCAA\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Michigan case, the NCAA is investigating how Stalions gained access to the Central Michigan sideline for a game against Michigan State in 2023. Central Michigan said in a statement it is \u201cworking with the NCAA toward a negotiated resolution\u201d and hopes to \u201cbring our matter to a fair conclusion soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who is Connor Stalions?<\/p>\n
Stalions, a native of Lake Orion, Mich., was a Michigan superfan who followed the Wolverines around the country and dreamed of landing a job on the coaching staff. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he volunteered with the football program, and was hired at Michigan in 2022 after a stint in the Marines.<\/p>\n
Stalions specialized in decoding signals, a practice that is not against the rules. He recently posted on social media that he knew \u201calmost every signal\u201d in seven games during his time at Michigan, including College Football Playoff losses to Georgia in 2021 and TCU in 2022.<\/p>\n
Stalions became a minor celebrity as a result of the scandal, appearing in a Netflix documentary called \u201cSign Stealer\u201d that premiered in 2024. His attempts to land a high school coaching job culminated with a brief stint calling plays for Belleville High School and star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who signed with Michigan as the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2025.<\/p>\n
According to a source briefed on the hearing, Stalions was \u201cvery contrite\u201d when he appeared in front of the NCAA Committee on Infractions in June. His lawyer, Brad Beckworth, struck a more defiant tone in 2024, describing the investigation as a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d and calling Stalions a \u201cscapegoat in the NCAA\u2019s ongoing quest to show that it has a purpose in today\u2019s sports world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s ruling from the NCAA closes an unprecedented two-year saga that blossomed while a defiant Harbaugh led his Wolverines on a national championship run, capturing the attention of the college football world along the way.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Connor Stalions standing on the sideline next to Jim Harbaugh: Columbus Dispatch \/ USA Today Network via Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michigan will forfeit postseason revenue for the next two seasons, and head coach Sherrone Moore will be suspended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[1607,1777,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-85108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-michigan-wolverines","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}