With “serious” allegations circulating the Michigan Wolverines football program and head coach, Jim Harbaugh, it makes one wonder how this situation could carry massive implications for many other teams around the country and for the NCAA itself. We all have heard the story by now, but for anyone who is still in the dark, it is alleged that the Wolverines have been running an elaborate signal-stealing scheme to gain a competitive advantage over their opponents. Now, it is important to note that this is not against the rules nor is it out of the ordinary for a college football team to do.
The details that are being more heavily scrutinized are how exactly Michigan went about obtaining the opposing team’s signals, with allegations that the school had a low-level staffer, retired U.S. Marine Corps Captain, Connor Stalions, attending opposing team’s games and possibly also sneaking onto their sidelines as a way to help him identify their signals. This would be in violation of the rules, however, Michigan claims that they did not know about this if it was in fact happening, and Stalions has already willingly stepped away from the program amid the controversy.
FWIW:
Big Ten's Tony Petiti was informed today that the two programs which fed Purdue Michigan's signals before the 2022 BT title game were Rutgers and OSU. Not clear if rules broken, doesn't directly affect UM's situation, but raises question re: relative competitive advantage.— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) November 7, 2023
It has been reported that Michigan’s signals had been obtained by their opponents last season, yet Michigan was undefeated in conference play so clearly that was not much of an advantage for any of them. They must have just been so far beneath Michigan that even knowing their every move before they make it does not offset the extreme gap in talent, skill, coaching, and just purity of heart that Michigan has over them.
With seemingly everyone having possession of everyone else’s signals, it is hard to take seriously any claims that this gave Michigan any sort of competitive advantage. The only issue here is that a low-level staff member may or may not have gone to some games that supposedly no one told him to go, and which likely had minimal to no benefit for the team in the grand scheme of things.
There’s been some question as to whether Big Ten coaches sharing Michigan’s signs with each other is illegal. The short answer would be yes. Here’s why:
It’s illegal to have an in person scout at future opponents games. As soon as a coach shares that information he technically…
— Wolverine Chronicle (@WolverineChron) November 7, 2023
It has been rumored that Ryan Day, of the Urban Meyer fan club, crying to the NCAA is what led to the investigation. Honestly, I think that’s giving him way too much credit, he can barely form a coherent sentence. I don’t think he’s filing formal complaints against anyone. This would be especially unwise for him to do, as he was theoretically (but not in actuality due to a lack of tangible ability) benefitting from the potentially illegal, rule-violating, procurement of…Michigan’s signals, and then not potentially but definitely illegally distributing them to other teams.
If we’re going to talk about cheating, in baseball, in order to reach base, a player must either hit the ball in play, draw a walk, or reach via a pitching error. Ryan Day, however, has been seen on third base frequently, and there is no indication of how he was able to get on base, let alone advance to third.
UPDATED STORY: @sinow is able to publish partially redacted documents showing how Michigan opponents decoded Wolverines signals and matched them with run and pass concepts.
More here w/ @ByPatForde: https://t.co/6UI1kp46Im pic.twitter.com/psK6OF4FFg
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (human) (@RJ_cfb) November 7, 2023
As the NCAA continues to investigate and weigh their options, it is rumored that they are seeking another multi-game suspension for Jim Harbaugh. However, it is also being reported that Michigan is gearing up to take legal action if Harbaugh does indeed receive a suspension. I would love to see this personally because I have a feeling that the NCAA, Ohio State, and a few others would not be looking forward to what might come out during discovery. With how blown out of proportion this has gotten, especially with the media magnifying it nonstop, it’s hard to not feel like the NCAA is trying to make an example out of Harbaugh, which I think will inevitably push him back to the NFL.
Remember when Michigan would do satellite camps all around the country to help develop, recruit, and give exposure to high school recruits and then the SEC cried to the NCAA because they didn’t like Michigan being able to compete with them? That is what happened. They did not like a northern team coming down to Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and setting up camps that gave Michigan a better chance to recruit that talent away from the southern schools. There is zero logical reason why this should have been banned, as it is indisputably a positive thing for high school players to be able to receive high-level coaching and exposure, regardless of whether Michigan decides to recruit them or not. Had to shut that down QUICK.
Or just recently when Jim Harbaugh bought a hamburger for a recruit on a visit with the team? Full-scale investigation and three-game suspension. Are we going to act like hundreds of thousands of dollars aren’t changing hands regularly down in the SEC? Oh, it wasn’t the hamburger, iT wAs ThAt He LiEd AbOuT iT. Or were these not hamburgers at all, but in fact, cheeseburgers? This would make a significant difference as one of the many delicate details that must be confirmed in a complicated, high-stakes investigation such as this.
These burgers in question were reportedly purchased at The Brown Jug in Ann Arbor, where, according to their own menu, the cheapest burger at the restaurant is Jack Harbaugh’s Famous Brown Jug Burger. Was Jack also in on this scheme? The Harbaugh crime family? Or did they perhaps order a Lloyd Carr BBQ Bacon Melt Burger instead, which is one of the more expensive burgers on the menu, coming in at a whopping $17?
If Harbaugh receives a suspension for this Stalions controversy, I would leave the Big Ten, choose to not honor future scheduling, create our own network to broadcast games (Similar to what Notre Dame currently does), and not allow it to be broadcast anywhere else. Then in 10 years when the Big Ten and SEC merge to build a baby NFL with ads every half-second, we can just not be part of that. We don’t need to bow to a garbage product that disrespects us at every turn.
Lastly, who the hell cares?