Michigan football sign-stealing scandal gets worse with new report

Just now, another new report was published regarding the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal, which is at the top of sporting headlines this week. Beforehand, it seemed as if suspended staffer Connor Stalions was a lone rogue in his actions to steal signs from opposing teams; however, per a new piece by the Washington Post, that does not appear to be the case. In fact, if accurate, it seems that all of this was quite coordinated.

Michigan football sign-stealing scandal gets worse with new report

Per the Washington Post’s new report, the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal goes deeper than we previously thought. Connor Stalions, a staffer who was previously thought to be acting alone, was likely not a lone operative in this sign-stealing scheme; in fact, it all appears quite planned out — The Post’s findings are reportedly from an outside investigation firm, which dove into Michigan earlier this year,

Per the WaPo, Michigan was ready to shell out around $15,000 on expenses for scouting this year, sending 40 scouts to around 10 games this fall. The report also states that the Wolverines’ videoing scheme started back in 2022 —  a season that saw Michigan football finish the year 13-1 overall with a second-straight Big Ten title and College Football Playoff apperance.

Another piece of evidence that was found was a “detailed schedule of Michigan’s planned sign-stealing travel for the rest of this season.” Per the report, it “listed opponents’ schedules, which games Michigan scouts would attend, and how much money was budgeted for travel and tickets to scout each team.”

Needless to say, that is not a good look at all for Michigan football right now. Another not-so-great except regarding the report:

“Atop the list was Ohio State, Michigan’s top rival in the Big Ten, and scouts planned to attend as many as eight games, costing more than $3,000 in travel and tickets. Next on the list was Georgia, a potential Michigan opponent in the College Football Playoff, with four or five games scheduled for in-person scouting and video-recording, also costing more than $3,000 in travel and tickets.”

Additionally, all of this evidence was found on “computer drives maintained and accessed by multiple Michigan coaches.” If this is the case, and it can be proved that the Michigan football coaching staff was in on the scheme alongside Connor Stalions, that would expand the investigation (and punishments) beyond just Stalions.

It is worth noting that Jim Harbaugh denies knowledge of the sign-stealing and is still not linked to knowledge of what was happening.

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