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Michigan football sign-stealing scandal, explained: Why coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended
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- Michigan football sign-stealing scandal, explained: Why coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended
On Monday night, Michigan football will aim to capture just its second national championship since the 1948 season, and first since 1997, when it takes on Washington in the College Football Playoff title game in Houston .
It will mark the end of a 2023 season that has been as turbulent as it has been successful.
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The Wolverines have been the dominant story of the 2023 season, both because of their on-field dominance and their alleged off-field misdeeds. As coach Jim Harbaugh and his team embarked on an undefeated regular season and their third-consecutive Big Ten championship , they were often the subject of unsavory headlines.
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Much of that has revolved around an ongoing NCAA investigation into alleged in-person scouting and stealing signs . Since the story broke on Oct. 19, it has taken no shortage of twists and turns since, all of which has captivated much of the college football world.
Even as the Wolverines have continued to win and inch closer to their dream of a national title, the effects of the sign-stealing scandal have lurked. For several games, they were without Harbaugh, who was suspended. While he was gone and even once he returned, the scandal has been referenced repeatedly by players and coaches — not specifically, but as "adversity " the team has endured and continues to face.
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How did Michigan get to this point? How did an already memorable season become something slightly more chaotic? Here's everything you need to know about the Michigan sign-stealing scandal:
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Michigan sign-stealing scandal, explained
While Michigan's ongoing headaches have often been framed around sign-stealing, the program is being investigated over allegedly violating NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1 , which prohibits member institutions from off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents.
According to various allegations, Michigan staffers or those working on behalf of them attended games of upcoming Wolverines opponents and filmed the sideline during the game to record the hand signals used by coaches. Though sign-stealing itself is widely practiced across college football and is not technically in violation of NCAA rules, using technology to scout opponents in person is.
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At the center of the scandal is Connor Stalions , a former off-field analyst for Michigan who has since resigned. Stalions reportedly purchased tickets to more than 35 games at 17 stadiums across the country to scout upcoming opponents on the Wolverines' schedule. Twelve different Big Ten schools confirmed that Stalions bought tickets to their games under his own name. Stalions' operation appeared to spread beyond just Michigan's conference, as he reportedly purchased tickets to games in 2022 involving Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Oregon , all of which could have been potential foes for the Wolverines in the College Football Playoff.
The NCAA's involvement in the matter reportedly began when an outside firm approached college sports' governing body with computer drives containing evidence of illicit scouting that were accessed and maintained by multiple Michigan coaches.
Harbaugh has denied knowledge of any of the alleged sign-stealing, noting in a statement that "my instructions and awareness of how we scout opponents have always been firmly within the rules." Though it's unclear exactly how much the Wolverines have benefitted from knowing their opponents' signals, those within the sport believe that their alleged operation should have given them a crucial leg up on their competition.
"That's huge. There's no other way to say it," a Power Five head coach told The Athletic . "That's as big as it gets. It's the biggest advantage in college football, I would say. How does it get any bigger?"
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Why was Jim Harbaugh suspended?
Of Michigan's 14 wins this season, Harbaugh has only been on the sidelines for eight of them. He has served two separate three-game suspensions.
The latter was a result of the sign-stealing scandal, as Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten for the final three games of the regular season . Conference commissioner Tony Petitti wrote to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel that the Wolverines had violated the league's sportsmanship policy and that "the effect on the opponents of the University's football team remains ongoing." Petitti added that it was a sanction of the university, not of Harbaugh.
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In Harbaugh's absence, and with offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore serving as interim head coach, Michigan went 3-0 to cap off an undefeated regular season, which included wins against top-10 Penn State and Ohio State teams.
Harbaugh's first suspension was served over the Wolverines' first three games of the season by the university, which implemented the self-imposed measure as Michigan was being investigated for the NCAA for alleged recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period. In December, the university received a notice of allegations from the NCAA that includes four Level II violations and reportedly a Level I violation against Harbaugh, who allegedly didn't cooperate with or misled NCAA investigators.
Without Harbaugh, Michigan defeated East Carolina , UNLV and Bowling Green. Four different assistant coaches filling in as interim head coaches during that stretch.
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Michigan sign-stealing timeline
Below is a look at the most consequential events and developments in the Wolverines' sign-stealing scandal, dating back to mid-October:
Oct. 19: Yahoo Sports breaks the story that Michigan is being investigated by the NCAA for impermissible in-person scouting.
Oct. 20: Michigan suspends Stalions — a retired U.S. Marine Corps captain who began working with the program in a formal capacity in May 2022 — with pay for his alleged role in the sign-stealing.
Oct. 25: The Washington Post reports that an outside investigative firm approached the NCAA on Oct. 17 with documents and videos it obtained from computer drives maintained and accessed by Michigan coaches, which helps launch the NCAA's probe.
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That same day, Sports Illustrated reports that Stalions boasted about stealing opponents' signs to a student at a Power Five school looking to break into the industry. The report added that Stalions claimed he had a document between 550 and 600 pages long detailing a plan for Michigan's future. Stalions dubbed the document "the Michigan Manifesto."
Oct. 26: ESPN reports that an NCAA enforcement staff was on the Michigan campus that week looking into the sign-stealing allegations.
Oct. 27: A former Division III coach told ESPN he was paid "a couple hundred dollars" by Stalions to attend three Big Ten games over the past two years to record the sideline of a future Michigan opponent. The coach said he would then upload the video to a shared photo album that he does not know who else beyond Stalions had access to.
Oct. 29: The Wall Street Journal reports Michigan rescinded a new contract offer to Harbaugh that would have made him the highest-paid coach in college football. Harbaugh denies the report a day later.
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The same day, Sports Illustrated reports that multiple unnamed sources from a Big Ten school said they were warned by another coach in the conference that Michigan's ball boys on their sideline would listen in on play calls and communicate that information back to the Wolverines' sideline by holding the ball in a particular hand.
Oct. 31: Images emerge of a man who looks like Stalions on the Central Michigan sideline during its Sept. 1 game against Michigan State, a future Wolverines opponent. Central Michigan launches an investigation on the matter, with findings yet to be publicly revealed.
Nov. 2: Purdue coach Ryan Walters, whose team was playing Michigan two days later, says he believes the sign-stealing occurred, noting that "we know for a fact they were at a number of our games."
"They aren't allegations," Walters said. "It happened."
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Nov. 3: Stalions resigns at Michigan , exiting after refusing to cooperate with any internal or external investigations.
Nov. 7: ESPN reports that Michigan believes Purdue received the Wolverines' offensive signals from Ohio State and their defensive signals from Rutgers in advance of their matchup against the Boilermakers in the Big Ten championship game in 2022.
Nov. 10: The Big Ten suspends Harbaugh for his team's three remaining regular-season games. Michigan files a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten for its ruling, but eventually accepts the league's punishment.
Nov. 17: Yahoo Sports reports that Stalions' sign-stealing scheme was at least partially funded by a Michigan donor known as "Uncle T."
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That same day, Michigan fires linebackers coach Chris Partridge. It was alleged that Partridge destroyed evidence related to the investigation, a claim that Partridge has publicly denied.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan sign-stealing scandal, explained: Why Jim Harbaugh was suspended
