On Monday October 23rd, it was revealed that the NCAA had found Michigan Wolverines football staffer, Connor Stalions, had purchased tickets to over 30 games around the country in the last 3 seasons and had used “illegal technology” at these games to steal signs. Stalions was hired in 2022 to be an off-field analyst after being a volunteer for several years and has been around the program and on the sidelines for several games.
Many of the games and stadiums that Stalions had purchased tickets for were Big 10 games for rival opponents, and those teams and venues have said they had seen a person from the seats he had purchased tickets for with a device recording the sidelines of other teams the Wolverines had coming up on their schedule.
Per NCAA rules, it is illegal for any program to do in stadium scouting of an upcoming opponent, and if found doing it, penalties can take place.
Stalions is alleged to have purchased tickets for last weekend’s Ohio State vs Penn State game, a matchup between the two other top 10 opponents in the Big 10, and two teams that Michigan would be facing in the final four games, but no one had showed up once the NCAA launched an investigation last week. The Wolverines, the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, are favorited to win the championship game this season but will need to beat Penn State and Ohio State to seal their fate into the College Football Playoff. So, the question I ask is, how big a deal is this sign stealing scandal?
I think the sign stealing scandal is a huge deal because the way Michigan obtained these signs is against the rules and damages the integrity of the game. Per NCAA rules, it is illegal to do any in person scouting for a future opponent, and it is clear Stalions had a system of people who went to games around the country to do just that.
Sign Stealing is very common in College Football, as they have no headset radio like high school football or the NFL, but use signs or signals on the sidelines to tell the next play to the offense or defense. However, most of the sign stealing happens in game, where teams can see opponents’ sidelines and pick up on them, which is completely legal. What Stalions and his network of sign stealers were doing is going to other stadiums and standing behind their sidelines in the crowd and filming their signs, then matching it up with plays on film. This is against the rules the NCAA has on this and could put their program in huge danger when it comes to violations, and penalties.
It is also rumored that once Michigan’s network of guys obtained the signs, they used AI technology to decipher what sign means what play, so they could have an entire network decipher it and have it ready by the time they played the games.
Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has denied any wrongdoing and declined to comment further on the investigation but could be in huge trouble if found connected to the network. Michigan has been undefeated this year and hasn’t lost a conference game since a matchup against Michigan State in 2021, but Harbaugh was already suspended once for a recruiting violation and has been rumored to return back to the NFL where he coached the San Fransisco 49ers from 2011-14. I personally think he will leave Michigan before this investigation is finished, much like Pete Carrol did for USC back in the days, especially if he can join a team to draft Michigan starting quarterback JJ McCarthy.
If found guilty of these violations, I believe Michigan has at least violated a Level II violation of NCAA rules, which is a Significant Breach of Conduct, but might be more likely to have violated a Level I violation, which is a Severe Breach of Conduct. I think it falls under Level I, which is the highest level of violation, because if found guilty of this sign stealing network, it would by definition “Provide a substantial competitive advantage” and also “seriously undermine and threaten the integrity of college sports.”
These violations often show a lack of institutional control which this does have and are intentional violations. If found guilty of these violations, I believe Michigan will face a postseason/bowl ban of at least two years, will have scholarships taken away, and will be forced to vacate all wins from 2021-23. I also think even though it is very early in the investigation, the evidence overwhelming points to them having this program, and even in a 2o22 game vs Ohio State, there is video of Stalions standing next to Michigan Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter and telling him the signs Ohio State were calling so Michigan can switch to the perfect coverage.
People can say this is legal, which it is, but it is very hard to notice a sign on the first play or drive in a game unless it is studied and prepared for through real-life film, as the TV broadcast and All 22 do not show signs.
Many people around the sport were shocked and took issue with the allegations against the Wolverines, although opinions differ between fans. Former Oklahoma Sooners National Championship coach Bob Stoops said “If true, oh absolutely, that’s ridiculous. Listen everyone acts like it happens all the time, no it doesn’t.”
Stoops then continued stating, “Sure we look across the field and if you can see it, that’s your job to do. But the video people, or to send people to scout and marry up a signal with a play- no, no, no, that’s terrible. It goes against everything we’re about. That’s wrong.”
Former Florida State quarterback and college football analyst Danny Kanell said “I’ve been holding back judgement on this Michigan story, but the more information comes out the worse it gets. This is not “everyone is doing it” type stuff. This runs deep and let’s call it what it is: They’ve been CHEATING to gain an unfair advantage.”
However, many fans feel differently, as some CFB fans have proclaimed sign stealing “happens all the time.” Adam Neil, a long time college football fan wrote on Facebook, “Basically teams should change their signs every week, and teams should expect signs to be stolen and know and switch them.” Another fan, Jason Mcphail said “I don’t understand why people can’t sign steal anyways. To me it’s nothing more than scouting. This seems like fans mad their team does not have the same success.” Adam Smock said, “I love how everyone is acting like their schools are above trying to steal their opponents sings lol Michigan is just the only one that got caught.”
In my opinion, sign stealing is fine if it’s done correctly, but to go through the lengths Michigan had gone and to have seen their success against schools that might have been far harder to scout, as they lost CFP games to both Georgia and TCU, it seems like they are guilty of something.
And you can’t say other schools are doing it if this is the first major case of this in the sports history. I tend to side with experts like Coach Stoops here, and I think Michigan will have a huge asterisk on their program after this. After all sign stealing in person at other stadiums violates the rules and they should be punished accordingly, which will be highly detrimental to their program. I expect at least a 2-year playoff ban, and wins vacated, if not more punishments for the Wolverines.
