On Thursday night, more information from the Michigan sign-stealing scandal emerged. Apparently, a low-level staffer and former Marine Corps captain was at the center of the scheme. Connor Stalions, an analyst with the program is the focus of the NCAA's investigation. It turns out, other Big Ten teams have reportedly been aware of Stallions and Michigan's "elaborate scheme" for a year.
Yahoo!'s Ross Dellenger reports the following:
At various points, Connor Stalions would make a signal: point to his shoulder, gesture to the ground, tap his head. He was in constant communication with the full-time assistants around him, whispering to them as the opposing offense broke the huddle.
“He spearheads the operation,” one Big Ten school coach told Yahoo Sports in an interview Thursday. “I once told (Stalions), ‘We know what kind of sh** you are doing and it’s f***** up.’”
Dellenger claims multiple Big ten staff members identified Stalions as Michigan's "sign-stealing guru." He joined the program in the spring of 2022 as a recruiting analyst and, it would appear, he had other, off-the-books duties as well.
Apparently, Ohio State knew of the scheme before their game against Michigan last season and the Buckeyes completely changed the way they did things before the game.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has claimed ignorance of the scheme, but there's almost no way that's close to possible. If Stalions was obtaining an opponent's signs and relaying them to the team's coaches and players as alleged, there's zero chance Harbaugh was out of the loop.
It will be interesting how this all plays out. Michigan is currently ranked No.2 and is a national title contender. Will the NCAA come down hard on one of college football's best teams in the middle of the season? We'll see. This is just Harbaugh's latest run-in for NCAA violations. The organization may not look fondly on it.
This article was originally published on thebiglead as Big Ten Teams Have Known About Michigan Sign-Stealing Analyst For a Year.
