An Ex-D-III football coach claims that Michigan did not pay him enough money to sit in the rain and watch Penn State stomp UMass in the pouring rain. He said so himself to Dan Murphy of ESPN under the condition of anonymity.
The Wolverines are currently under investigation for an alleged sign-stealing scandal. All of the evidence points to a staffer by the name of Connor Stalions.
He is accused of leading an expansive operation that extended across the Big Ten, and across college football into the Playoff. The 28-year-old is a Michigan superfan who dedicated his entire life to one day running the school’s football program.
Stalions even went so far as to decline admission to his dream school so that he could go to the Naval Academy. It was part of his master plan. Bo Schembechler and Bill Belichick went to Navy so he would too.
His secret to getting inside of the Wolverines program was his innate ability to decipher and translate signs. (Read: stealing signs.)
Resurfaced photos show Stalions standing next to Jim Harbaugh on the sideline in multiple games. There are countless similar examples online.
They all appear to show various Michigan staffers receiving help with play calls. The whole thing spells bad news.
It seems likely that the university will paint Stalions as a rogue staffer. We will see what happens with the NCAA, which is already in Ann Arbor.
Did Michigan break the rules?
That is the question.
Stealing signs during a game is legal. Todd Graham was notorious for it in the Pac-12, to the point that Mike Leach started calling plays directly to the Arizona State sideline.
There are no rules against sign-stealing.
There are rules against in-person, in-season scouting of future opponents. There are also rules against the use of electronic equipment to record opponents’ signals.
If the source who spoke to ESPN on Friday — a former Division-III football coach — is to be believed, Stalions directed him to do both. The spy told ESPN that:
- “he filmed every drive from his seat in the stands about 15-20 rows above field level.”
- “he tried to film wide enough to include the sideline and the majority of the team’s on-field formation so members of the Michigan staff would be able to sync his videos with other film and decode the team’s signals.”
- “he was able to capture enough of the coaches on the sideline that their signals were visible for someone who zoomed in on the recorded video.”
The former coach said Stalions gave him tickets for games at Penn State and Rutgers in 2022 and coordinated a return visit to Happy Valley on Oct. 14 of this year. He only stayed one half.
This is where the money comes in to play. Whatever the job paid, the spy said that it wasn’t enough to get him to sit in the rain for a blowout against the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
I only did a half because it was pouring rain and they were playing UMass. It didn’t pay well enough so I was like, ‘yeah, I’m not staying here.’
— A former D-III football coach, who spoke with ESPN
The man also said that Stalions gave him another ticket before the investigation. It would have been his second trip to Happy Valley this year for Indiana and Penn State on Saturday. He is not going.