Wolverine Digest

The waiting game begins as NCAA ruling looms over Michigan

Michigan concluded its 'sign-stealing' hearing with the NCAA over the weekend and now awaits a decision.
Chris Breiler|
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Following the conclusion of a two-day hearing that took place over the weekend, Michigan now waits to see what the NCAA plans to do about a sign-stealing scheme led by U-M former staffer Connor Stalions. Michigan faces six Level I violations relating to the sign-stealing scheme, 11 violations in total.

Stalions, who resigned from his position with the Michigan football program back in November 2023, was on hand for the hearing in Indy. Without media being allowed in, we can only speculate as to what took place and what impact Stalions' presence had on the hearing.

What we do know is that the NCAA will issue some sort of punishment beyond Michigan's self-imposed two-game suspension of head coach Sherrone Moore. That suspension, set to take place in Week 3 and 4 of the 2025 season, is due to Moore deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions shortly after news broke relating to the sign-stealing scheme. Although the texts were later recovered and handed over to the NCAA, Moore is still facing an NCAA violation relating to deleting the messages.

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Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

But beyond any punishment that Moore could face, Michigan could find itself facing an even harsher punishment due to the actions of Stalions.

Although stealing signs from game footage or even during the games isn't illegal, Stalions reportedly took things quite a bit further. In addition to sending folks to games for the purpose of recording future opponents' signals, Stalions also appeared to be on Central Michigan's sideline for a matchup against Michigan State in East Lansing... wearing a disguise. Those actions, along with Michigan's reported unwillingness to fully cooperate with the NCAA investigation, will likely prove to be the most costly.

At this point, several possible outcomes are on the table - including massive fines, recruiting restrictions, a postseason ban, and even vacating some (or all) wins from when Stalions was on staff. Although Michigan fans have attempted to downplay what took place, it's clear that others around the country, including Big Ten coaches, are looking for the NCAA to make a statement with the punishment.

Connor Stalions
Connor Stalions in the Netflix documentary, "Sign Stealer" | Netflix

Although the NCAA could come back with a decision at any time, it's expected that the process will extend through the summer and possibly into the fall before a final decision on the punishment is announced. In the meantime, Michigan will attempt to proceed with a 'business-as-usual' approach, looking to build up future recruiting classes over the summer before turning to fall camp and preparing for the 2025 campaign.

- Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI -

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Chris Breiler
CHRIS BREILER

Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.

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