Michigan football scandal: 3 questions about latest report

Last night, yet another new report was released regarding the Michigan football scandal into alleged illegal sign-stealing, Connor Stalions, and head coach Jim Harbaugh. Per the Washington Post’s latest info, things don’t seem to be going the Wolverines’ way right now; however, it also feels a bit too early to tell. Here are three questions that we don’t have answers to regarding The Post’s new report.

Michigan football scandal: 3 questions about latest report

1 — Who hired this investigation firm?

Pretty much everyone is asking this right now — who hired the “outside law firm” that the Washington Post’s report talks about? It sounds like the NCAA may have already been aware of the allegations made against Michigan football by the time this firm started its separate investigation into the program, so who could go out of their way to hire them? Even if the NCAA was not aware beforehand, finding out who hired the firm has become a major point of conversation since this info was released.

Was it someone in the program? A fellow Big Ten school? An ex-staffer? Someone with a grudge against Jim Harbaugh? We don’t have answers here; in fact, no one does just yet, but this is going to be a major detail to keep an eye on down the stretch when more comes out.

2 — Which, if any, other Michigan football coaches accessed the drive?

In the Washington Post’s report, it mentions that Connor Stalions was keeping all of these recordings on a shared computer drive — one that was accessible by other Michigan coaches and staffers. That said, it will be important to see who was accessing this information. The report states that the drive was “maintained and accessed by multiple Michigan coaches,” which is pretty vague and could be interpreted in a number of different ways.

So, the bottom line that we want to know is this: Who had access to this drive, and which staffers/coaches had accessed it? That will be a key detail for Michigan football when everything starts to unfold.

3 — Who is financing the alleged sign-stealing operation?

The report states that there was money budgeted for the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal, which is thought to be primarily led by Connor Stalions. While Jim Harbaugh has still not been linked to the scandal, and no other assistants have been named in connection yet, there was an estimated $15,000 in expenses planned out for the 2023 season alone. Was Stalions, who made $55,000 last year (per U-M), able to afford this alone? Was he being helped by the school? Another coach?

These are all questions that have not been answered by reports just yet and will be a crucial detail for the Wolverines down the road. Additionally, it’s likely safe to assume that — when it comes to expenditures this large — there will be a paper trail. Our question is where that trail will lead.

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