One of college football’s best teams, who have said for years they do things the “right way”, is embroiled in a cheating scandal.
The University of Michigan Wolverines, currently ranked No.2 in the country and on track for a third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance, are being investigated for violating rules by stealing signs – the way college offences communicate play-calls from the sideline to the quarterback, rather than a direct headset connection as seen in the NFL.
Connor Stalions, a United States Marine Corps veteran, was outed as the alleged mastermind behind the endeavours.
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This has opened the floodgates for sleuths to analyse everything from Stalions’ social media activity to his whereabouts on Michigan’s sidelines in search of clues of nefarious behaviour.
Adam King, a sports anchor and reporter for CBS affiliate 10TV in Ohio, published a video on Twitter that appears to show Stalions discovering and communicating signs in last year’s Ohio State game.
In the video, then-Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud looks toward his sideline for an audible.
After Stroud receives the sign, Stalions and a couple of other Michigan coaches and players start emphatically pointing up at the sky, apparently relaying a new sign to the Wolverines’ defensive unit.
In this particular instance, the sign-stealing was unsuccessful, as Stroud hit Emeka Egbuka for a 4-yard touchdown.
Nevertheless, Michigan won the game 45-23, and ultimately won the Big Ten en route to a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Michigan announced last week that Stalions has been suspended amid the investigation.
“He spearheads the operation,” a Big Ten coach told Yahoo last week about Stalions. “I once told him, ‘We know what kind of s–t you are doing and it’s f–ked up.’”
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has denied knowledge of sign-stealing.
“I have no awareness of anyone on our staff having done that or having directed that action,” Harbaugh said a statement, per ESPN. “No matter what program or organisation that I have led throughout my career, my instructions and awareness of how we scout opponents have always been firmly within the rules.”
College football rules do not prohibit sign-stealing, per se, but staffers are not allowed to scout opponents in-person in advance, dating back to an NCAA bylaw from 1994 that was passed to collectively save on costs.
ESPN reported earlier this week that, over the past three years, Stalions has bought tickets to 30 different games at 11 different locations.
The irony in all of this is how Michigan, and former San Francisco 49ers coach Harbaugh, have always tried to maintain an attitude that they’re above the type of win-at-all-costs tactics employed by rival schools.
For many years it was common knowledge many top recruits were paid to play for certain schools (when this was illegal), but Michigan and its fans always claimed they would never do such a heinous thing.
ESPN reported Michigan’s alleged scheme dates back to 2021 and has been described as “elaborate.”
“We were told to be careful because they had a guy who could pick plays,” one Big Ten head coach told Yahoo Sports. “It was too late in the week to change our signals, but another staff did tell us about (Stalions).”
Stalions is considered a low-level staffer, according to ESPN.
It appears he has deleted his social media accounts as his name has surfaced in the investigation.
A LinkedIn page that is not active lists Stalions as a “football” analyst who started in 2022, and the finer type specifically stated he’s a defensive analyst.
Inactive X and Instagram accounts both stated that he works with the linebackers, while the X account listed him as a 2017 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.
The inactive LinkedIn account provided details on his role and featured some notable lines considering the allegations against Stalions and Michigan.
“I focus on using my experience to employ Marine Corps philosophies and tactics into the sport of football regarding strategies in staffing, recruiting, scouting, intelligence, planning and more,” the LinkedIn page read.
“I emphasise … identifying the opponent’s most likely course of action and most dangerous course of action; identifying and exploiting critical vulnerabilities and centres of gravity in the opponent scouting process…”
ESPN reported that Stalions technically works in the recruiting department, but he is known to spend time analysing and breaking down opponents’ signals.
While breaking down signs on videos is allowed, it would be a violation if he did so in-person while attending opponents’ games.
Signs can also not stolen via recording devices and relayed to coaches or player, per ESPN.
“He had one role,” a source told ESPN.
Yahoo reported Ohio State staffers knew of Stalions potentially stealing signs before last year’s game.
“We heard they had a guy pick plays pretty good and had all this information from not your typical ways of getting the signals,” the staff member told Yahoo. “We get into the game and it’s the second quarter. I see him across the field and he’s checking his 11×17 sheet.”
One Big Ten source told ESPN this alleged cheating scandal transcends recent examples from professional sports.
“This is worse than both the Astros and the Patriots — it’s both use of technology for a competitive advantage and there’s allegations that they are filming prior games, not just in-game,” the source told ESPN.
“If it was just an in-game situation, that’s different. Going and filming somewhere you’re not supposed to be. It’s illegal. It’s too much of an advantage.”
The NCAA has been sent video — that is at least an hour in length — showing a person in the stands at a game appearing to record the home sideline with a phone, ESPN reported. The ticket was purchased by Stalions.
According to ESPN, “an opposing Big Ten school looked up in-stadium surveillance video from a game earlier this year, and sources said the person in the seat of the ticket purchased by Stalions held his smartphone up and appeared to film the home team’s sideline the entire game.”
The video evidence is expected to be used in the NCAA’s investigation, per ESPN.
Stalions also allegedly purchased tickets for games outside the Big Ten for four schools in the College Football Playoff or contenders for the playoffs, according to ESPN.
All of the tickets for games outside Michigan’s conference were purchased toward the middle and end of the 2022 season, per the report.
According to Yahoo, Stalions purchased a ticket to an Oct. 28, 2022, game that featured Kentucky and Tennessee, which was ranked No. 3 at the time.
Stalions also purchased tickets on the secondary market for the 2021 and 2022 SEC championship games, ESPN reported.
Additionally, Stalions, according to ESPN, bought tickets to a 12th Big Ten school, meaning all but one conference member has a record of Stalions purchasing a ticket at their stadium.
Portions of this article were originally published at the New York Post and were republished with permission.
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