Michigan’s sign-stealer, Conor Stalions, says he knew most signals in 7 games over 2 seasons
Michigan’s sign-stealer, Conor Stalions, says he knew most signals in 7 games over 2 seasons
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan football staff member Connor Stalions, whose actions triggered an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing, says he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons.
Stalions shared those details Saturday on social media, responding to TCU coach Sonny Dykes telling On3 that his team changed some signs in advance of its win over the Wolverines in the 2022 College Football semifinals.
“We got some favorable matchups because of that and, yeah, there was some big plays in the game,” Dykes said in the On3 report.
Stalions bristled at the latest attempt to suggest Michigan won or lost games because of his sign-stealing role with the team.
“There were 7 games in my time at Michigan where I knew almost every signal the whole game: 2021 MSU, 2022 MSU, 2022 PSU, 2022 OSU, 2022 TCU, 2021 Georgia, and 2021 Wisconsin,” Stalions wrote in his post. “We lost 3 of those games because we didn’t tackle well, and Georgia was historically good. We won the four other games because we dominated the line of scrimmage & tackled well. Blocking, ball security, tackling, run fits & coverage tools.
“That’s football. This is not rocket science.”
Nearly a year ago, the NCAA alleged in a notice relating to Michigan’s sign-stealing investigation that current coach Sherrone Moore violated rules as an assistant under former coach Jim Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court.
Moore also was accused of deleting text messages with Stalions, before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation.
Michigan is prepared to suspend Moore for two games during the coming season. The NCAA will decide if that self-imposed sanction is enough to address allegations that Moore failed to cooperate in an investigation that rocked college football during the 2023 championship season with Harbaugh on the sideline.
The school had a hearing with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions last month. The governing body takes three months on average for contested cases to make a final decision.
The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and then go to Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6.
The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but it does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team’s signals. Records from other Big Ten schools showed that Stalions bought tickets to games involving future opponents, sending people to digitally record teams when they signaled plays.
Stalions initially was placed on leave by Michigan and later resigned. He did not participate in the NCAA investigation.
The NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.
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