Michigan staffer being investigated as possible center of sign-stealing scheme
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh watches warmups before a game against Northern Illinois at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021.
A low-level staffer at Michigan is being investigated by the NCAA for the critical role he may have played in the team’s alleged sign-stealing operation.
Conor Stalions, a retired captain in the United States Marine Corps who works as a football analyst for the Wolverines, is a person of interest in the latest investigation at Michigan. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Mark Schlabach, the NCAA’s enforcement staff has sought access to Stalions’ computer as part of the probe.
A LinkedIn profile for Stalions states that he enrolled at the Naval Academy and was a student assistant for the Midshipmen from 2013 to 2016. Stalions was then commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 2017 and worked his way up the ranks before retiring in May 2022. He was formally hired by Michigan as an off-field analyst in May 2022, but his LinkedIn profile says he served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Wolverines from May 2015 to May 2022 while he was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California.
Harbaugh became the head coach at Michigan in 2015.
ESPN was told by a source that Michigan has used an “elaborate” system to scout and steal signals from opponents since at least 2021. It is said to be known within the program that Stalions spends a lot of time deciphering opponent’s signals, often by watching television copies of games.
Deciphering signals by watching TV broadcasts is not illegal under NCAA rules. The big allegation against Michigan is that they scouted future opponents in person at other football venues. NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1, which was implemented in 1994, states that “off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents (in the same season) is prohibited.”
The NCAA is also working to determine if Michigan used electronic equipment in any way to decipher signals and send information to coaches and/or players.
As ESPN notes, Stalions’ LinkedIn bio states that he aims to “employ Marine Corps philosophies and tactics into the sport of football regarding strategies in staffing, recruiting, scouting, intelligence, planning and more.” The skills Stalions says he excels at are “identifying the opponent’s most likely course of action and most dangerous course of action” and “identifying and exploiting critical vulnerabilities and centers of gravity in the opponent scouting process.”
The investigation began after two teams claimed they became aware that Michigan had their signals. A halftime interview from Greg Schiano that resurfaced on Thursday (video here) has left many wondering if Rutgers was one of those teams.
Harbaugh has denied having any knowledge of Michigan illegally stealing signs during his tenure as head coach.