According to ESPN, Connor Stalions, the suspended staffer at the center of the sign-stealing scheme that has rocked Michigan football, purchased tickets in his own name for more than 30 games over the past three years at 11 different Big Ten schools.
Sources at the 11 Big Ten schools confirmed the purchases to ESPN.
Stalions allegedly engaged in a sign-stealing scheme that included illegal video, electronic spying, and written notes. The report states that Stalions then forwarded the tickets to at least three other people in various parts of the country.
According to the report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Mark Schlabach, one Big 10 school examined camera footage of the person occupying the seat and concluded that the person was filming the home team’s sideline with his smartphone.
It is also noteworthy that in each alleged instance, Michigan was not one of the teams on the field. Instead, the games always involved a team or teams that Michigan played later in the year.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines warms up his quarterbacks before their game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 3, 2015, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
Also, Stalions had purchased tickets on both sides of the stadium for last Saturday’s Penn State-Ohio State game.
The fact that the tickets were purchased for games of opponents that Michigan faced in the same year is important. The specific violation alleged is a 1994 rule that prevents teams from sending advance scouts to the games of future opponents in the same season. So, a team could send scouts to analyze an opponent if they were on the schedule for the following season. But not if that opponent was on the schedule for the current season.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines leaves the field before the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against the TCU Horned Frogs at State Farm Stadium on December 31, 2022, in Glendale, Arizona. The Horned Frogs defeated the Wolverines 51-45. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Harbaugh’s attorney has stated that his client denies any knowledge of the situation. However, in the eyes of the NCAA, a lack of knowledge of the situation does not absolve Harbaugh from responsibility for the situation.
While the outcome of the NCAA’s investigation into Harbaugh is unknown, speculation that Harbaugh will seek a return to the NFL before Michigan becomes mired in NCAA sanctions is sure to abound.