ANN ARBOR, Mich. – All eyes are on a possible Jim Harbaugh suspension as the sign-stealing case follows Michigan football into its upcoming matchup against Penn State.
The Big Ten could decide to suspend Harbaugh before the NCAA investigation is completed, and the University of Michigan might then respond with legal action.
Here’s where the sign-stealing case stands Thursday morning, Nov. 9.
Connor Stalions
This while situation arose because now-former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who was a low-level analyst for the football team before resigning last week, bought tickets to games featuring future Michigan opponents. Big Ten rivals said they have footage of the people who sat in those seats filming the sidelines during games.
So, in essence, the accusation is that someone on Michigan’s staff paid for others to film opponents in person.
That’s technically against the scouting rules, which were amended to outlaw in-person scouting because many smaller schools couldn’t afford to send scouts to every game. The rule change intends to promote competitive balance.
There’s also an image on social media that shows someone who looks like Stalions on the Central Michigan sideline during the Michigan State game earlier this season. If it’s actually Stalions in the photo, nobody seems to know how or why he got there.
What’s pretty clear is that Michigan violated the scouting rules in some capacity, otherwise, why would Stalions have gone through such lengths to hide what he was doing? What’s not clear is the scope of the operation, and whether anyone else was involved.
Big Ten coaches demand action
New Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti went to Ann Arbor last week for the conference’s field hockey tournament and met with U of M President Santa Ono.
Petitti was reportedly pressured by the rest of the league’s coaches and universities to take action against Michigan -- more specifically, action against Harbaugh. Petitti apparently went to Ann Arbor and asked Michigan to self-impose a suspension, a request that the university higher-ups declined.
Ono emailed the commissioner and asked that “due process” be followed.
“The reputation and livelihoods of coaches, students, and programs cannot be sacrificed in a rush to judgment, no matter how many and how loudly people protest otherwise,” Ono wrote. “Due process matters.”
Jim Harbaugh’s involvement
So far, there hasn’t been any information that links Harbaugh or any other members of Michigan’s staff to the sign-stealing operation.
It’s possible that more information could come out, but the early leaks were released very strategically to paint Michigan in a bad light, so it would be surprising if there was incriminating evidence that hadn’t yet been revealed.
That doesn’t necessarily absolve Harbaugh of blame, though. The NCAA has a clause holding head coaches responsible for what goes on within their programs, so Harbaugh could still face punishment even if he didn’t know what was going on.
It doesn’t help that the NCAA was already targeting Harbaugh for a recruiting violation during the COVID period. Even though it seemed to be a relatively minor offense, the NCAA accuses Harbaugh of lying to investigators, so Michigan’s self-imposed three-game suspension to start this year apparently was not enough.
Michigan’s signs stolen
After weeks of forced silence because of the ongoing NCAA investigation, some of Michigan’s defense has started to leak. The Wolverines were apparently approached by a former staff member at a Big Ten school, and that person claims he was part of a group of schools that worked together to decipher Michigan’s signs.
A spreadsheet was later leaked to Yahoo, and it appears to show which of Michigan’s plays corresponded to which hand signals. The former staffer said he has screenshots of text messages showing coaches discussing the operation.
Specifically, Ohio State and Rutgers are accused of sending Michigan’s signs to Purdue before last year’s Big Ten Championship Game.
This is definitely a bad look for opposing schools who seemed to be so incredibly shocked and outraged that Michigan would have their signs, but it’s not clear if any rules were actually broken by Ohio State, Rutgers, or Purdue.
Sharing signs that were deciphered legally might not actually be illegal, unless the conference considers what Purdue received to be “advanced scouting.”
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has denied his program’s involvement.
Michigan awaits punishment decision
The Big Ten notified Michigan on Monday that it could face discipline for the sign-stealing operation, triggering the conference’s mandatory 48-hour window for the Wolverines to respond.
Petitti didn’t act on Wednesday, when many originally expected a suspension, but many reports are pointing to Thursday as a possible target for the Big Ten to issue a Harbaugh suspension.
How severe will the punishment be? That remains to be seen. Certainly, a suspension now would be damaging for Michigan, which is days away from a top-10 battle against Penn State on the road. The Wolverines need a win in Happy Valley to keep their national championship hopes alive.
If a suspension is announced, the University of Michigan has made it clear that it is ready to fight for relief. Many believe that would involve filing for an injunction that halts the suspension until the NCAA finishes investigating.
Penn State game looms
Michigan will soon leave for Happy Valley, as a critical game with Penn State kicks off in just two days.
How will the outside noise affect Michigan in that game, and will the Wolverines be without their head coach? We should know much more by the end of the day.
