Illustration by Tabi Walters
For months, a giant cleat has hung over Michigan Football, in the form of the NCAA’s lengthy sign-stealing investigation.
In mid-August, it slammed to the ground, causing financial and reputational pain, but not completely knocking out the program.
The college sports governing body issued a 74-page report finding “overwhelming evidence” of an “impermissible scouting scheme” in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons. Football staffer Connor Stalions flew associates around the country to video teams’ sidelines, then deciphered the signals their coaches used to call plays.
Related: Starting Over
Then-head coach Jim Harbaugh refused to cooperate with the investigation, his assistant-turned-successor Sherrone Moore deleted text messages from Stalions, and Stalions “disposed of his phone in a pond.” Investigators nonetheless documented “56 instances of off-campus, in-person scouting of 13 future regular-season opponents,” something expressly prohibited under NCAA rules.
U-M faces fines that could amount to $35 million, according to Yahoo Sports. It’s one of the largest financial penalties in NCAA history.
Moore was also given a three-game coaching ban. The U-M had already suspended him from this year’s Central Michigan and Nebraska games. Now he’s also banned from the 2026 opener with Western Michigan that the schools hope will be played in Germany.
Related: Band Tour
Harbaugh, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, was effectively given a 10-year ban from coaching in the NCAA. Stalions was given an eight-year ban, while staffer and former quarterback Denard Robinson was given a three-year ban.
Bad as all that was, it could have been worse: the NCAA did not vacate games played during those years, which included U-M’s 2023 national championship season. Nor did it ban the school from future postseason games.
In a press release, the university said it appreciated the committee’s work but planned to appeal, citing what it called “fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws” and “a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence—or lack of evidence—in the record.”