A new lawsuit by ex-Michigan assistant coach Chris Partridge alleges the university concealed evidence of Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing for months prior to the team’s national title win.
Partridge claims Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and ex-president Santa Ono discovered evidence of the sign-stealing in January 2023 – a full year before the football team won the national championship.
Partridge asserts in the lawsuit that while looking into former assistant Matthew Weiss in January 2023, high-ranking University of Michigan employees discovered evidence of a complex sign-stealing operation. He asserts that neither Santa Ono nor Manuel ever turned over the evidence found on Weiss’ hard drive to the NCAA or the school’s board of regents.
Additionally, according to the lawsuit, Ono instructed Manuel and other university staff not to take any notes regarding the Weiss inquiry in order to prevent potential disclosure. In 2024, Manuel agreed to a five-year contract extension that runs through June 2030.
In 2025, authorities accused Weiss of 24 crimes, including 10 charges of aggravated identity theft and 14 counts of unlawful access to computers, for allegedly breaking into female athletes’ accounts and obtaining their personal photos.
The lawsuit also addresses disgraced Michigan coach Sherrone Moore
Partridge’s lawsuit also alleges that Michigan administrators were aware of an “inappropriate relationship between former head football coach Sherrone Moore and a subordinate employee for years without taking action to protect the employee.”
Michigan dismissed Moore, Harbaugh’s successor, for allegedly having an improper relationship with Paige Shiver, his executive assistant. After reportedly breaking into Shiver’s house and threatening to hurt himself, Moore entered a no contest plea to two misdemeanors in March.
According to CBS Sports, Partridge, who is currently with the Seattle Seahawks, is suing the university, its board of regents, Ono, Manuel, and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti because he feels that he was used as the “scapegoat” for the sign-stealing scandal.