Michigan does not believe this is an isolated incident, as the Wolverines are still embroiled in a sign-stealing scandal.
Pat Forde and Richard Johnson of Sports Illustrated reported that the school “is aggressively fighting back against potential sanctions for alleged illegal signal-stealing by former football staffer Connor Stalions.”
Michigan intends to provide Big Ten officials with evidence showing that other teams in the conference deciphered its signals and forwarded that knowledge to opposing programs as part of its defense.
According to Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, the schools accused of signal sharing are Ohio State, Purdue, and Rutgers.
According to Forde and Johnson, a former Big Ten coach gave Michigan two documents containing Michigan’s sideline signals. In addition, the coach stated that he and his coaching staff “received multiple detailed breakdowns of which signals corresponded to which play calls.”
Forde and Johnson also claimed to have obtained redacted versions of the documents:
“The two Michigan signal breakdowns include sections dedicated to deciphering the images on the boards held up by staffers, lengthy lists describing hand signals for running plays, slightly shorter lists for passing plays, and separate lists describing signals for play-action passes or bootleg plays.” Both documents include a ‘2020 Game’ heading, followed by a short rundown of signals ostensibly deciphered during a game that year.”
They confirmed with a Michigan source that the signals were consistent with their play-calling from last year.
Forde and Johnson noted that sharing signal information between schools is permitted by NCAA rules, and they cited one Big Ten coach who stated that “everyone does it.” It’s also unclear whether opposing schools improperly decoded the Wolverines’ play-calling, as Stallion is accused of doing.
In addition to allegedly purchasing tickets to live-scout other Big Ten schools and potential bowl opponents for Michigan, Stallion is being investigated by the NCAA and Central Michigan for allegedly gaining access to the Chippewas’ sideline for a game against Michigan State.
The Big Ten issued a formal notice of potential discipline to Michigan on Monday. Whatever the conference decides, the Wolverines will not go down without a fight, and they may take some of their rivals with them.
