NCAA Gives A Weak Punishment To Michigan Over The Connor Stalions Investigation, Wolverines Are Celebrating

After nearly two years of arguing about the sign-stealing investigation that centered around former assistant Connor Stalions, the NCAA has handed down a punishment that will be celebrated by folks inside the Michigan football building. 

In what felt like a twelve-round fight between all parties, Michigan tried to get ahead of any type of further punishment by suspending head coach Sherrone Moore for two games during this upcoming season. Michigan got to pick the games he missed, by the way. And now, the NCAA has agreed to that suspension, while tacking on an additional game in 2026. 

Tangled up in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing ordeal, Sherrone Moore deleted 52 text messages between himself and the former assistant, right after the allegations were made public.  That led to him being charged with failing to cooperate with the investigation. Those messages were eventually recovered.   

Getting back to how we got to this point, the ‘advanced scouting’ from 2021 to 2023 that Stalions is accused of orchestrating was the main point of emphasis during the entire investigation, along with who else was involved, and who knew. 

But, the NCAA is finally revealing the penalties being levied against Michigan, and I have to say that the Wolverines got off pretty easy. 

Michigan Receives Its Punishment After A Long Fight

After receiving their Notice of Allegations from the NCAA, Michigan put together its response, eventually meeting with the Committee on Infractions this past June, where they presented their defense of the entire ordeal. The Wolverines were arguing over the 11 allegations levied against them, with six of those being Level 1 infractions. 

The other problem for current head coach Sherrone Moore in this entire saga was that he had already been suspended one game during the 2023 season for his involvement in Michigan's illegal recruiting case that transpired during the COVID-19 era.

Here are the penalties that have been released so far. 

• The NCAA will suspend Sherrone Moore for two games during the 2025 season, followed by one game during the 2026 season. He also receives a 2-year show-cause penalty.
• Michigan is fined $20 million, which will come from revenue generated from postseason payouts.
• Former head coach Jim Harbaugh has received a 10-year show-cause penalty, while Connor Stalions receives an 8-year show-cause penalty.
• Former staffer, and quarterback, Denard Robinson receives a 3-year show-cause penalty
• Michigan gets a 25% reduction in football official visits pertaining to recruiting
• A 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications for the football program, which will take place during the probation period that is ongoing.

The monetary fine comes from what Michigan would have made from the CFP, 10% of football revenue, and any other postseason revenue, which will turn out to be around $35 million once it's all over. 

As for the possibility of a postseason ban, the NCAA had this to say about why it was not levied. 

"However, the panel determined that a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program."

In terms of the involvement of Connor Stalions, the NCAA opened their report with this statement. 

"The majority of the violations in this case relate to Connor Stalions' orchestration of an impermissible scouting scheme," the NCAA noted in their release."  During the 2021, 2022 and 2023 football seasons, Stalions directed and arranged for individuals to conduct off-campus, in-person scouting of Michigan's future regular-season opponents. In doing so, Stalions purchased game tickets and transferred them to those individuals, who included another staff member, interns and acquaintances of Stalions. The network of individuals was referred to as the "KGB."

"By his own admission, Stalions expended significant resources and effort to plan the scheme, spending nearly $35,000 on tickets in 2022 alone. Through the scheme, Stalions collected, deciphered and documented thousands of signals for use by other staff members."

The show-cause for Sherrone Moore is also tied to him being classified as a ‘repeat offender’, which usually doesn't sit well with NCAA investigators. Additionally, Michigan is already on probation until 2027 for the recruiting violations that stemmed from the 2021 investigation. 

So clearly, the Wolverines have been playing with fire over the past few years, but the NCAA clearly did not have enough evidence to prove all the alleged wrongdoings in the case. 

In terms of Connor Stalions being caught on the Central Michigan sidelines during their game against Michigan State, the NCAA had this to say regarding the matter. 

"Stallions attended that game in part to decipher Michigan State's signals, but also to help a Central Michigan staff member with play calling."

How The NCAA, Michigan Got To This Point

When the Big Ten launched their own investigation into Michigan during its national championship season, the eyes of college football were on Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended twice during the season for separate incidents. During the investigation, Connor Stalions was accused of purchasing tickets to other college football games in his own name, then sending people to scout those opponents, while trying to steal their signs in the process. 

It was alleged by the NCAA that Stalions had purchased tickets to almost every Big Ten schools game during the time period in question. The NCAA alleged that Connor Stalions arranged the scouting of at least thirteen future Michigan opponents. 

As if that wasn't enough, Stallions was also allegedly seen on the Central Michigan sidelines during their season-opener against Michigan State, with a fake mustache and sunglasses that looked to have been recording the Spartans bench.  Even though Connor said that he did not recall being on the sidelines, Central Michigan QB coach Jake Kostner resigned during the ongoing investigation into the Chippewas. 

If you remember that time period during the Wolverines' title run, there wasn't a day that went by where it wasn't being written about, while the Big Ten was also conducting their own investigation into the matter. It was an absolute cluster, though Michigan adopted the ‘Us against the World’ mentality, and eventually won the national championship. 

It was also clear at the time that the Big Ten conference took this extremely seriously, suspending Harbaugh for the remaining three games of the 2023 regular season. 

But, just because Harbaugh bolted for the NFL, that did not mean the NCAA investigation was going to end. During the course of their inquiry, Jim Harbaugh was reportedly not cooperating with investigators, which only made the matter worse for Michigan, especially since he was no longer coaching in Ann Arbor.  And yet, Michigan seems to have gotten off lightly.