Connor Stalions was the talk of the entire sports world from mid-October through mid-November. However, as the conversation surrounding Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal continued throughout the remainder of the year, the man behind it all slowly faded away.
He was forced to resign from his role with the Wolverines and slipped out of the public eye.
Jim Harbaugh ultimately served his suspension. His team will play Alabama in the Rose Bowl for a shot at the national title. The constant, negative news cycle surrounding the scandal has mostly passed.
College football fans won’t soon forget that Michigan was caught engaging in illegal activities. That is a stigma that will stay with the program and the university for quite some time — especially once the NCAA decides what it is going to do (if anything, and it could take years) about its findings.
Stalions, though, has managed to escape into relative irrelevance. And Central Michigan has somehow been able to get completely off of the hook! (For now…)
Was Connor Stalions on the sideline?
Back at the end of October, as the sign-stealing talk hit its peak, multiple images and videos began to surface. They appeared to show Stalions on the Chippewas sideline in East Lansing during their season-opening road game against the Michigan State Spartans on Sept. 1.
The various visuals were such a viral sensation that Stalions immediately became a meme.
Central Michigan immediately opened an investigation. Head coach Jim McElwain later pretended to know nothing of the entire situation and added that his program was “totally unaware.”
Stalions’ name was on none of the team’s sideline passes. Here is a list of the team area credentials:
McElwain said that the folks in charge were going to “keep tracing it back” until they determined the identity of the sideline spectator and vowed that the investigation was in good hands. The school has said repeated that it cannot comment further because it is “an ongoing NCAA enforcement matter.”
Well, it is now mid-December and the Chippewas have yet to declare the findings of their inquiry. Everybody has, for the most part, collectively moved on without an answer.
Was Connor Stalions spying on Michigan State on the Central Michigan sideline?! It sure seems like it.
If the Chippewas and/or the NCAA asked every staffer about Stalions’ alleged presence on the sideline, and none of them knew anything about it, there is a much bigger scandal at play. Even though most college football fans have already moved past Central Michigan’s role in the Connor Stalions saga, there is a high probability that the findings are going to cause a significant shakeup in the university’s football staff.