Matt Weiss, University of Michigan sued by 2 former athletes for intimate photos scandal

Former Michigan football co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss , accused of hacking into computers at more than 100 universities across the country and stealing the identities of more than 3,300 student athletes, was arraigned in Detroit's federal court Monday.

Weiss turned himself in on Monday where Magistrate Elizabeth Stafford of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan gave him a $10,000 unsecured bond: That means it did not cost him anything to be released from custody.

Also, a pair of female former student-athletes from U-M filed a federal lawsuit against Weiss, the university, its board of regents and the third-party vendor whose information was allegedly hacked into by Weiss.

They alleged U-M came up short of its stated goals to protect students "by failing to supervise and monitor Weiss and as a result Plaintiffs and thousands of others have had their privacy illegally invaded," the brief read in part.

The plaintiffs requested the court enter a judgment exceeding $100 million.

Weiss was indicted last week on two dozen counts which included 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft, where he allegedly downloaded personal intimate digital photographs and videos "that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners," according to federal prosecutors.

According to the  U.S. Attorney's Office , Weiss, 42, of Ann Arbor, pulled off his scheme between 2015 and 2023, during which he broke into student-athlete databases maintained by a third-party vendor.

"Weiss primarily targeted female college athletes," the indictment reads. "He researched and targeted these women based on their school affiliation, athletic history and characteristics."

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines  beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Matt Weiss, University of Michigan sued for intimate photos scandal