Connor Stalions fires back at TCU coach, says Michigan knew 'almost every signal'

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes revealed his team changed their play calls ahead of the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinal against Michigan after his team was tipped off about the Wolverines’ sign-stealing scheme.

But former Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions, the centerpiece of that scheme, responded to those claims by saying those efforts were in vain, as the Wolverines knew TCU’s signals anyway.

“The continuous attempt to correlate signals to any wins and losses at Michigan is funny,” Stalions said in a long social media post.

“There were 7 games in my time at Michigan where I knew almost every signal the whole game: 2021 MSU, 2022 MSU, 2022 PSU, 2022 OSU, 2022 TCU, 2021 Georgia, and 2021 Wisconsin.

“We lost 3 of those games because we didn’t tackle well, and Georgia was historically good. We won the four other games because we dominated the line of scrimmage & tackled well.”

Stalions added: “Blocking, ball security, tackling, run fits & coverage tools. That’s football. This is not rocket science.”

Stalions offered his analysis for how the Air Raid offense, similar to what Dykes has run at TCU, shares basically the same principles and employs similar signals from the coordinator handing off information to his quarterback, and then to the receivers.

“Similar to Ohio State ‘changing their signals,’” Stalions continued.

“They changed their route concepts & some run concepts -- not their formations and pass protection signals, which is all I cared about.”

Dykes said he and his staff were flooded with calls and text messages before TCU met Michigan in the postseason, trying to warn them about UM’s sign-stealing.

“We had some intel that [sign-stealing] was going on,” Dykes told On3 Sports, adding that while “everybody does it to an extent,” what Michigan was allegedly doing “was kind of next level.”

Their response, Dykes said, was: “We changed some signs, we left some the same... We had some dummy signals and some things where we checked a dummy signal to a signal that we knew they knew.”

TCU piled up almost 500 yards of offense, including a 263-yard rushing effort, against the Wolverines’ talented defense en route to a hectic 51-45 victory.

Former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has denied knowledge of or having participated in the alleged sign-stealing operation.

He previously received a four-year show-cause penalty in August 2024 for his role in the program’s recruiting violations case from the Covid era.

A ruling on Michigan’s sign-stealing claims is expected later this summer, including further potential punishment for head coach Sherrone Moore.

The team suspended Moore for two games of the 2025 football season earlier this year after receiving the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations, reportedly over the coach allegedly deleting 52 text messages with Stalions.

Other possible NCAA penalties potentially facing the Michigan football program include recruiting restrictions, fines, and in the most extreme case, a postseason ban.

That last option seems the most unlikely, given the NCAA’s reluctance in recent years to pursue a policy that severe, and after Michigan’s athletic director suggested that he didn’t believe a ban was likely after his own conversations with NCAA insiders.

And NCAA chief Charlie Baker himself said that he thought Michigan’s national title was legit, likely putting to bed any concerns that the school’s championship would be rescinded.

Sign stealing is not itself a violation of NCAA rules, but bylaw 11.6.1 prohibits “off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents” in the same season.

Stalions is alleged to have purchased tickets for dozens of Big Ten games and paid third parties to attend and film opponents’ sidelines to pick up their football signals.

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