{"id":294629,"date":"2025-08-17T05:54:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/294629\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T05:54:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:54:23","slug":"truth-of-michigan-sign-stealing-lies-at-bottom-of-murky-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/294629\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth of Michigan sign stealing lies at bottom of murky pond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

How NCAA punished Michigan football for sign-stealing scheme<\/p>\n

NCAA released punishment for Michigan football on Aug. 15, 2025, after its investigation into sign-stealing scandal orchestrated by Connor Stalions.<\/p>\n

The NCAA investigation into Michigan football found evidence of improper scouting practices but could not determine their impact on game outcomes.Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has refused to cooperate with the investigation.While Michigan received penalties including fines and a suspension for current coach Sherrone Moore, critics argue these are insufficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fish with its mouth closed never gets caught.\u201d That\u2019s a quote often attributed to gangsters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy film is at the bottom of the pond.\u201d <\/a>That\u2019s a quote attributed to former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions.<\/p>\n

Same thing. Stop expecting absolutes. They\u2019re not coming. Not from the Friday, Aug. 15, NCAA investigation report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Michigan football<\/a> hater, you want to scream U-M is absolutely guilty, top to bottom, that Stalions\u2019 sign-stealing is the reason they won games, that former coach Jim Harbaugh knew everything<\/a> and that the 2023 Wolverines<\/a>\u2019 College Football Playoff championship should be stripped and their chance at future ones should be affected.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re a Michigan diehard<\/a>, you want to scream Stalions\u2019 actions had absolutely nothing to do with U-M\u2019s title, that everybody does it, that the Wolverines have paid a big enough price already and should be left alone.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The bottom of the pond. That is where Stalions said he threw his phone and his hard drive<\/a>, according to the 74-page NCAA report, which, while finding \u201coverwhelming evidence\u201d U-M conducted an improper scouting operation<\/a>, could not conclude how much it ultimately helped.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Harbaugh, off to riches in the NFL, is a fish with its mouth closed, refusing to cooperate<\/a>, refusing to say anything on the matter other than, according to the report, fostering a view that a rules compliance office from his own school was \u201cthe scum of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about that. I do know scum is what you find at the bottom of ponds, where things get muddy and murky. And this sordid tale seems destined to remain there. No absolutes.<\/p>\n

And, as Mick Jagger once hollered, no satisfaction.<\/p>\n

SHAWN WINDSOR: NCAA confirmed what many suspected: Michigan operated like ‘KGB’<\/a><\/p>\n

Hypocrisy abounds in Michigan report<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s true Sherrone Moore, U-M\u2019s current head coach, got suspended by the NCAA for a third game<\/a>, next year\u2019s opener against Western Michigan in Frankfurt, Germany.<\/p>\n

Satisfying? Not to critics. They\u2019ll say the NCAA almost did him a favor. The Wolverines should be favored in that game by about four touchdowns, and Moore can now avoid an eight-hour plane ride.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s true, Michigan has been ordered to pay some crazy fines<\/a>, which, added up may come to some $30 million. Heck, you could buy three or four SEC quarterbacks with that.<\/p>\n

But money at Michigan is fairly easy to dig up. National championships are not. The Wolverines get to keep theirs, and compete for more. Satisfying? Not to those who see Michigan as the Don Corleone of college football. (Or maybe we should say \u201cKGB\u201d, <\/a>since that\u2019s how Stalions referred to his operation, per the NCAA.)<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s true, Stalions has admitted to stealing other teams’ signs. Heck, they made a documentary about it<\/a>. And yes, the NCAA report revealed Stalions said he spent $35,000 on tickets to opponents\u2019 games in 2022, as part of the 52 total games he illicitly scouted.<\/p>\n

But the NCAA never discovered where that money came from. (Stalions, when hired as a recruiting analyst in 2022 by Harbaugh, had an annual salary of $55,000<\/a>.) And, it had to admit, \u201cthe true scope and scale of the scheme \u2014 including the competitive advantage it conferred \u2014 will never be known.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan fans will declare, \u201cSee? It doesn\u2019t say we won anything as a result of the sign-stealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan haters will throw their heads back and yell, \u201cARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?\u201d No absolutes. But plenty of hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

Evidence not hard to find<\/p>\n

Like this: Harbaugh, who always had much to say about other schools\u2019 behavior, won\u2019t say a word about Michigan\u2019s. His lips are sealed.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s beneath him. Beneath U-M\u2019s tradition. It certainly makes him look guilty.<\/p>\n

Or this: The NCAA, an increasingly toothless organization, refused to ban the Wolverines from postseason play<\/a> because it would \u201cunfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well. The folks at USC must be having a good laugh.<\/p>\n

The Trojans were banned from bowl games for two years and had to vacate a national championship \u2014 long after coach Pete Carroll dashed off to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. And Ole Miss football got slapped with a two-year postseason ban well after its former coach Hugh Freeze \u2014 accused of recruiting violations and calling for prostitutes on his university cellphone \u2014 was gone and working elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Michigan pays no such price. Just fines, some recruiting limitations and Moore\u2019s sideline absence. Critics see it as a slap on the wrist. Yet U-M is appealing<\/a>, saying the report \u201cincludes a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence \u2014 or lack of evidence \u2014 in the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Michigan didn\u2019t comment on was Moore\u2019s erasing of text messages from Stalions, which he initially attributed to lack of storage space on his phone. Moore later admitted deleting them in reaction to the news of an investigation in October 2023.<\/p>\n

Yet it\u2018s Michigan complaining about \u2018\u2018lack of evidence?”<\/p>\n

DIVE DEEPER: Michigan football’s history of scandals: 5 controversial events<\/a><\/p>\n

It would all be funny if it wasn\u2019t so sad. Would all be clear if it wasn\u2019t so muddy.<\/p>\n

This much is true: The kids who gave their all to win those games had nothing to do with the bad behavior of the adults. But the NCAA concluding Michigan did whatever it did \u201cto gain a competitive advantage\u201d is hardly earth-shattering.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t everything college football programs do \u2014 from bad mouthing other schools in recruiting to enticing transfers with NIL money \u2014 meant to gain a competitive advantage?<\/p>\n

Elvis once sang, \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for trouble, you\u2019ve come to the right place.\u201d That is certainly true when you employ a guy whose main purpose in life is stealing signals.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re looking for clarity, justice or black-and-white guilt and innocence, you\u2019ve come to the wrong place. Your hook will remain empty.<\/p>\n

The bottom of the pond is thick and dark. And the fish aren\u2019t biting.<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom: When your mother-in-law breaks the mold, there is love<\/a><\/p>\n

Contact Mitch Albom:\u00a0malbom@freepress.com<\/a>. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at\u00a0MitchAlbom.com<\/a>. Follow him\u00a0@mitchalbom<\/a>.<\/p>\n