Takeaways from the NCAA's infractions report on Michigan and Connor Stalions' advance scouting scheme

Yahoo

17 hours ago

The NCAA has officially punished Michigan for Connor Stalions' advance scouting scheme.
The governing body gave former coach Jim Harbaugh a 10-year show-cause penalty (on top of a four-year show-cause Harbaugh received in 2024 for a different investigation) and gave Stalions an eight-year show-cause. Additionally, the school was fined in multiple ways and those fines could exceed $20 million.
Current head coach Sherrone Moore was given a two-year show-cause penalty and had a third game added onto his two-game suspension for the 2025 season. That suspension was self-imposed by Michigan earlier this year and will take place in Week 3 and Week 4. The third game of the suspension will happen in 2026.
The NCAA's full report for the infractions can be found here. Below are some key takeaways from the NCAA's findings over the course of its investigation into the Wolverines' scheme.
Stalions' presence on CMU sidelines confirmed
The infractions report says with authority that Stalions was dressed in Central Michigan gear on the Chippewas' sideline for their Week 1 game at Michigan State in 2023. A man who looked like Stalions was spotted on the sidelines in video footage of the game as the scandal blew up later in the 2023 season, but his presence had not been officially confirmed.
"On one occasion in 2023, Stalions personally engaged in-person scouting when he stood on Central Michigan University's sideline wearing a bench pass and disguised in Central Michigan-issued coaching gear during the institution's contest against Michigan State. According to interview statements by a former football staff member, Stalions attended that game in part to decipher Michigan State's signals, but also to help a Central Michigan staff member with play calling."
The NCAA is currently investigating Central Michigan regarding the Stalions incident and the school has said it's working towards a resolution with the governing body.
Stalions called his scouting network the KGB
The infractions report outlines how Stalions would purchase tickets to games in the lower level of stadiums so that the ticket holders could see the sideline of the team they were scouting. Per the report, 'Stalions used a network of individuals to scout 13 future opponents a total of 56 times across 52 separate contests. Those individuals included Stalions' acquaintances, another Michigan football staff member, current and former interns and their friends, and football student-athletes and their friends.'
Stalions would refer to the group as 'counterintelligence' and called them the 'KGB.'
'Using phones often purchased and provided by Stalions, attendees filmed football coaches and staff members signaling plays from the sidelines. Attendees would then send Stalions film, which he would analyze to decipher the opponents' signals. At the hearing [with the NCAA], Stalions confirmed that he bought people tickets to attend future opponents' games. He also state that, on at least some occasions, those attendees provided Stalions with the recordings that they took during the game.'
Moore deleted texts with Stalions after reading Yahoo Sports article
It's been widely known that Sherrone Moore deleted his text message thread with Stalions as the scandal emerged. According to the NCAA's report, Moore deleted those texts 'roughly 30 minutes' after Yahoo Sports first broke the the story on Oct. 19, 2023. Michigan employees were told to preserve all materials by the school on Oct. 20.
'The following day, after receiving Michigan's preservation notice, Moore deleted from his work phone a single message that was part of a broader thread that reference Stalions standing by Moore during a game. Moore did not immediately disclose that he had deleted any messages. When questioned by the enforcement staff, Moore initially blamed the deleted messages on storage space, although he eventually admitted to deleting them as an emotional reaction to the news.'
Stalions was boastful in documentary, less so to NCAA
Netflix released a documentary about Stalions in August of 2024 that included Stalions' own words about his scouting scheme. The NCAA noted multiple times in the infractions report that Stalions was much more boastful about the impact of his work on camera than he was to NCAA investigators.
'Stalions also made inconsistent statements about Harbaugh's awareness and appreciation of his scouting efforts. In the Netflix documentary, Stalions discussed receiving a game ball after one of Michigan's victories in the fall of 2022. According to Stalions, Harbaugh awarded him the game ball for deciphering signals, with Stalions noting that he was the only person who received a game ball with their name on it. Further, Stalions said he took the game ball as Harbaugh's way of saying 'We see you, you're doing a good job.' At the hearing, however, Stalions diminished that incident, saying that he was only speculating about the reason for receiving the game ball, and that Harbaugh usually gave out 15 game balls per game and tried to rotate them to all staff members. Moore confirmed that Harbaugh tried to recognize many staff members throughout the game.
Harbaugh's strained relationship with Michigan's compliance office
The report notes that Harbaugh did not see eye-to-eye with Michigan's own compliance office. In addition to the advance scouting scandal, Harbaugh was the subject of another NCAA investigation for recruiting violations during his time at Michigan. He was given a year-long suspension and a four-year show-cause penalty in August of 2024.
'As a general matter, head coaches are responsible for the culture and conduct in their program. A key component of that culture is compliance, which is a shared responsibility. Harbaugh did not embrace that responsibility. Harbaugh and his program had a contentious relationship with Michigan's compliance office, leading coaches and staff members to act, at times, with disregard for the rules. Compliance efforts were a one-way street. For the scouting violations that occurred during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Harbaugh failed to demonstrate that he adequately promoted compliance and monitored his program.'
The NCAA said in the report that Moore has not acted like Harbaugh did when it comes to compliance issues. Moore was given a less-harsh Level II penalty, while Harbaugh received an aggravated Level I.
'Specifically, Moore's texts were recovered without issue, he acknowledged and provided an explanation for his conduct upon being questioned and he continued to cooperate through the remainder of the investigation. Moreover and while not directly relevant to the underlying conduct, Moore attended the two-day, in-person hearing and provided candid, valuable perspective. Importantly, Moore — Michigan's current head football coach — explained his views on compliance and the culture of compliance he intends to instill in his program. Michigan's chief compliance officer confirmed that Moore has taken a new and different approach than his predecessor. The panel factored this positive development into Moore's violation, classification and ultimate penalty.'
Stalions told an athlete to lie to the NCAA
Per a recorded phone call, Stalions told a Michigan athlete that he should lie to the NCAA about the athlete's role in the scouting scheme and his knowledge of it.
'During that same phone call, Stalions also asked student-athlete 1 to provide false information to the enforcement staff related to his role in the scheme, the source of Stalions' stolen signals, and any knowledge of Stalions' hard drives containing film. Specifically, Stalions told student-athlete 1 'Again, if you just stick to that story, you're good. Whatever you say is your story and that's going to be what the truth is. This is also not the court of law. You can technically lie your ass off.'
The report details Stalions' refusal to comply with the NCAA's requests for data and records multiple times. His interview with the NCAA's enforcement staff was held in April of 2024 and footage of it was included in the documentary.
The NCAA said the conversation in the interview 'was not productive in yielding information about the scheme. Specifically, the enforcement staff cited frequent interruptions, objections, and side conversations by Stalions' counsel that prevented the enforcement staff from asking the relevant questions. However, Stalions did deny obtaining signals via in-person scouting of future opponents, directing individuals to attend games for the purpose of filming future opponents, or personally attending any games of future opponents.'