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The Michigan sign stealing scandal continues to grow with new reports suggesting the operation wasn’t limited to just Big Ten schools. News has now surfaced hinting that Wolverine staffers bought tickets to SEC games, too.
Those potential purchases would’ve been made to scout possible playoff opponents, though that postseason prep doesn’t seem to have helped much based on the results.
College football insiders are now saying Michigan staff members sought entry to games involving Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama last season. Only one would end up in the College Football Playoff, but it continues to display the large span of the operation.
NEW: From ESPN sources:
*Connor Stalions bought tickets to four different campus games of four CFP contenders last year.
*There’s record of purchases of SEC title game tickets in 2021 and 2022
*Twelve of 13 B10 schools have record of him buying tickets. https://t.co/UJCbpMz0bz— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 24, 2023
ESPN’s Pete Thamel posted updates from his sources, saying that there “also is record of [Connor] Stalions buying tickets to the 2021 and 2022 SEC title games… The tickets to the SEC title games were purchased on the secondary market.”
In both cases, Georgia was involved, once facing Alabama and later beating LSU.
Head coach Kirby Smart responded to the new allegations, saying, “There’s nothing I remember about the Michigan game that makes me think [sign stealing happened].”
The Bulldogs beat the Wolverines handily, 34-11, in their only postseason matchup.
Tennessee fan discovers interesting link to Michigan sign stealing saga.
Georgia isn’t the only team said to be linked to the scandal, they were just the only one the Wolverines faced head-to-head.
What’s weirder than the news tonight that the now-suspended Michigan staffer accused of a sign-stealing operation bought tickets to Alabama, Clemson Georgia and Tennessee games in 2022?
A @Volquest_On3 poster dropped the dime on all this in December.https://t.co/7QBvBgTxX6 pic.twitter.com/Hktt97RlCP
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) October 25, 2023
A Vol message board member claims to have some inside information on Michigan staffers trying to scout a game between Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
“My little brother’s ‘friend’ is a ‘scout’ for [Michigan],” the post from last December read. “They paid for him to travel to the UT-Vandy game (had planned it before the [South Carolina] loss obviously) to try to steal our signs.”
A follow-up message from January reiterated that, reading, “They’d pay for his flights, lodging, food, and seats right behind that team’s bench… Michigan is pulling out all the stops… Guy had tickets to our Vandy game thinking they’d see us in the playoffs!”
Previously, it had only been reported that staff member Connor Stalions was attending Big Ten matchups to scout for the regular season. Now, it seems the operation was wider spread.
A quick look at Stalions’ Venmo history might support that.
As more information surfaces surrounding the Michigan sign stealing scandal, the darker the cloud gets over Jim Harbaugh’s head.