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Michigan staffer reportedly bragged of sign stealing, relationships with coaching staff via texts
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Michigan staffer Connor Stalions remains suspended due to the ongoing NCAA investigation into allegations of illicit sign stealing on the part of Jim Harbaugh’s program.
According to a Wednesday story by Richard Johnson with SI.com, Stalions allegedly bragged about his sign-stealing abilities and relationship with coaches on Michigan’s staff during 2021. In some of those messages, Stalions claimed to be “close” with Michigan’s “whole staff” and particularly noted relationships with “CP and Jay Harbs,” presumably Chris Partridge and Jay Harbaugh.
Johnson reports the text exchanges came from January and February 2021 between Stalions and an individual who was a student at a Power 5 institution during the time of the exchange. During the course of that text exchange, Stalions allegedly bragged about stealing signs via TV copies of games and using that knowledge to inform OC Josh Gattis during games:
“Pre-covid, stole opponent signals during the week watching tv copies then flew to the game and stood next to [then Michigan offensive coordinator Josh] Gattis and told him what coverage/pressure he was gettin,” Stalions continued.
Texts reviewed by @sinow show Connor Stalions claimed relationships with multiple Michigan assistants
He was apparently also working on a 600-page “manifesto” to run the program in the future using data on ~500 Navy players to inform a recruiting theory. https://t.co/WCdmylmWWa
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (@RJ_cfb) October 25, 2023
To be clear, the practice of deciphering signals via TV broadcasts is not against NCAA rules. However, the allegations against Stalions include purchasing tickets to games and sending individuals to videotape the sideline of future opponents, something that would be a violation of NCAA rules.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.