Latest updates from Balas
I'm skeptical of him as a reporter but I paid for a subscription to share with those who find him credible.
The rule the Big Ten is accusing Michigan of is advance scouting of a future opponent
Michigan is expecting a "season" suspension of Harbaugh"(not clear, if that means the remainder of season, or next year games as well)
A potential Harbaugh suspension would include College Football Playoff games as well.
If the injunction is denied Michigan can appeal immediately.
Connor Stallions was working on behalf of Central Michigan when he was on their sidelines. However, "he's still a Michigan employee advance scouting a future opponent."
He believes the sign stealing collusion against Michigan story will gain traction after coaches names are revealed. He doesn't know if the information was illegally obtained but sharing signs is against big ten rules.
He believes Ryan Day is not in the clear regarding the PI firm, the NCAA doesn't care about it and haven't investigated it. Michigan is adamant on gathering evidence and proving that he was involved.
ESPN requested 50 tickets to the Michigan -Ohio State game and he thinks Michigan will decline their request.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
Take these clowns to court.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
Seriously. At some point it's going to dawn on the haters in the media that the CMU news actually helps Michigan.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
Yeah then you're in the ballpark of that Baylor coach who was suspended for a half for going to a friend's game which also happened to involve a future opponent that year, or something along those lines. And Stalions already resigned.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
I don't agree, respectfully. In the case of the Baylor coach, he was simply at the game. In the case of Stalions, he was apparently there working for CMU (more likely: independently working for someone who works for CMU). As far as I'm aware, there isn't a rule that someone cannot work for two universities at the same time.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
Yeah good point, I just meant it was likely for a purpose other than scouting for Michigan. It's probably more severe than the Baylor example but still not much in the grand scheme of things. And like I said, he's gone. Plus, for the Harbaugh "should have known" test, there are literally 2 or 3 nights per year when a coach or staffer can even attempt to do this given their responsibilities to attend Michigan games. This rule is unique in that a large part of the monitoring by a head coach takes care of itself.
And this news about the other sign stealing puts other schools in the "grey area" that so many of us have talked about here. This CMU incident seems to be the only differentiator now, and a pretty minor one given that it didn't appear to extend beyond Stalions.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:02 PM ^
Unfortunately, I think this is a key point, but hard to prove the Baylor coach's real intent there. However, I would say that Stalions not having a position at Michigan because he resigned or was fired seems like an adequate punishment.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
Now that SI and AP are reporting things, I'm going to take a step back from Balas and other insider speculations. They've been a bit scatter shot.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
Note that you will not find this on the ESPN site, at least not that I've seen.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
Pete Thamel had info on other teams having UofM signs for a week and still hasn't commented on it so he could spin.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^
He’s a buckeye slappy who belongs on our “don’t mention” list with the other trolls.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
Wait, what? They confirmed Stallions was working for CMU that game?
November 7th, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
Yeah that's nuts. So was Jim M lying about not knowing who it was?
November 7th, 2023 at 1:37 PM ^
Now to be fair, he didn't say he didn't know him
He just said he wasn't on the pass list.
s/
November 7th, 2023 at 6:53 PM ^
Real talk - if CMU actually did invite him, they may have also (un)knowingly broken an NCAA rule by having him there.
We joke about the NCAA being so mad at Kansas that they bring the hammer down on [insert small school here].
In this case, if this evidence does bear out, they could theoretically penalize CMU which would just take this whole thing to another level of insanity.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:38 PM ^
Which is more plausible?
A - Stalions obtained CMU sideline apparel, snuck on the sideline and stayed there all game, standing next to the coaches, none of whom bothered to ask him who he was or why he was there.
or
B - CMU invited him to the game.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
Its somewhat possible theres a middle road where an analyst or assistant coach brought him in. McElwain has other stuff going on. Now...that seems a touch farfetched but its possible I guess
November 7th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^
That's possible. At any rate, whether it was McElwain or a different staff member, it seems likely to me that someone at CMU invited him and outfitted him with the appropriate gear. This would explain why Stalions went himself, when his M.O. was to buy a ticket for someone in the "vast network" to go and sit in the stands.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
yep - especially the first game of the season. He couldn't magically steal/guess the right coaches uniform. He was probably killing 2 birds with 1 stone: moonlight to make $$ (he logically would have known McElwain from his year in Ann Arbor) + learn MSU signs/code from the game so he could apply to his job in Ann Arbor. It makes sense.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
If he was there to steal signs, he would have sat in the stands, where it's much easier to see the opposing sideline (and to watch play generally). Watching from the field offers a terrible view of everything, which happens in an obstructed blur. Also, was he filmed videotaping the game or meticulously scribbling notes after each play? Otherwise all he did was attend a game. Which is a violation, evidently, but not one that offers any sort of competitive advantage.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
But but but all the OSU and MSU slappies on Twitter are saying he was wearing sunglasses outfitted with a built-in camera. It couldn't have just been glare, the light was surely the camera turning on....
November 7th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
This is the most likely option. As a staffer, it's not hard to get someone a credential with no paper trail for it. You just ask your asst AD or comms person, hey I need a sideline pass, and then they just give it to you.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^
Imagine bringing in a sign stealer and still losing 31-7 to a bottom 20 team in college football.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^
I find it hard to believe that the CMU coaches didn't notice the most conspicuous looking staffer wearing sunglasses at night. He had their gear on with a sidelines pass. Stalions had to be on the CMU sideline with the permission of the CMU coaches.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
They figured it was Corey Hart.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:11 PM ^
I've seen those pictures and I'm still convinced that was Edward Norton in those sunglasses.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:00 PM ^
and if CMU invited him to the game, do you think they were aware of the vast network and invited him anyway?
November 7th, 2023 at 4:21 PM ^
FWIW I assistant-coach at a HS with a much smaller staff, and wouldn't bat an eye to some person I don't know being on the sideline.
I guess that could cut either way though, as 1. I don't care as much and we as a team have much less at stake, but 2. there are a lot of "gameday" coaches and hangers-on that only show up on Friday's, who make it onto the sideline.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
That sounds like Balas talking out of his arse which is not a rare occurrence.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:53 PM ^
I'm having trouble believing that a *season* is a credible option at this point given UMs expected response to any discipline.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
It's so outlandish that I would start looking into a money trail from an OSU booster to Tony Pettiti.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
it's absurd given that a baylor staff got one half game. that's a precedent.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:43 PM ^
100%. That’s part of why this is so absurd. Baylor got a 1/2 game, so even if hypothetically Michigan’s situation was more egregious, how could they even argue for more than say double or triple that punishment, at the maximum?
November 7th, 2023 at 4:50 PM ^
Fully agree. Especially in the absence of any evidence (so far) that Harbaugh knew of the plan and expressly authorized from it. I understand the head-coach-liability concept, but this is taking that too far.
An entire season would be obviously excessive (and apparently purposefully punitive), and I imagine would result in an immediate injunction.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
Notice how they got a $1/month promo as he keeps teasing some wild things that keep turning out to be wrong and how he keeps flip flopping on things… Balas is a hack
November 7th, 2023 at 1:44 PM ^
Seems likely given the situation.
But why can’t they hire him to steal in game signs? When you make under $50k everyone needs a side hustle. How is it that everyone is allowed, and in many cases today forced, to side hustle except for CS under arcane NCAA rules? How is it that head coaches making millions can send signs they steal to other coaches ahead of their game (they don’t have to pay each other) but CS cant pick up a few more bucks?
If CMU paid him while he’s also a UM employee then he is a CMU contractor. If you are working for Ford and take a side gig with a restaurant your actions at the restaurant are not the responsibility of Ford.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:57 PM ^
The question is can he moonlight as a GM contractor while working for FORD? Won't there be a conflict of interest? Competing with your primary employer?
November 7th, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^
Would it be a mitigating factor that CMU is a MAC school and Michigan is Power 5? The two programs are only nominally in competition with each other.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:55 PM ^
MSU is basically a MAC school as well.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^
There is a conflict of interest. He resigned. Case closed. (It should be, but our conference mates are having too much fun giving us the business over arcana.)
November 7th, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^
How would that be any different than the sign stealer for Rutgers getting paid for Rutgers stealing Michigan's signs then giving them to the sign stealer from Maryland who is getting paid by Maryland? Other than it's 2 different people, there are 2 different entities that are doing the hiring.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^
that is obviously the main argument to be presented along with the supporting evidence
November 7th, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
In theory you can unless Ford restricts it in your employment agreement.
Ethically, if you repair robots its not an issue but if you have access to proprietary information it’s probably an issue.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:57 PM ^
The example you used in your last paragraph isn’t an apples to apples comparison. Stalions wouldn’t be a Ford employee taking a side gig at a restaurant. He’d be a Ford employee taking a side gig with another vehicle manufacturer. On both sides there are conflict of interest disclosures that would need to be made. It’s doesn’t entirely rule out the possibility, but there is a lot more red tape to go through.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:18 PM ^
I’m thinking CMU is closer to a restaurant in this example. /s
Your example would be a sign steeler working for both OSU and M.
Disclosure is an important question. Did CS get permission. I doubt he did.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
One thing people keep forgetting about Stalions is that he was a Retired Marine Captain, he Retired with less than 20 years, which means he was Medically Retired…
So he is making about $4,000 a month in Retirement pay and $1,000-$3,800 in Tax Free VA disabilty. So he is bringing in $60,000 from his military service on top of the $55,000 salary from Michigan. $115,000 is not too bad for a guy with no wife or kids.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^
Didn't he just do his 4 or whatever years are mandated after going to the Naval Academy? If so he wouldn't be receiving retirement, right?
November 7th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
I don’t think he retired, I think it was a journalistic mischaracterization of the end of his initial Naval Academy commitment
November 7th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
If CMU were playing against any team other than one of M's future opponents, I don't think it would be an issue.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
I had been wondering that. The honest to goodness easiest answer when it comes to Stalions, including the CMU stuff, is that there is off the record payment from individual to individual (e.g. Stalions to his "scouts", some coach on CMU to Stalions, etc.) from their own personal finances. In this case, someone on CMU knew Stalions and thought he could benefit CMU, so that person - unbeknownst to other coaches - engaged with him and brought him there. If I were Michigan, I would fight the "Stalions was working for Michigan when he was at CMU hard" if there isn't a provision - either contractually with the university or by either Big Ten or NCAA rule - that a coach can't be working for two teams OR that a coach can't be employed by one team and have a side gig (neither of which I have ever heard exists). Ultimately, this is all a question of employment law and agency, and always has been. By basic agency principles everything that Stalions was doing, on his own outside of his employment relationship with the University of Michigan, wouldn't be implicated back to either Michigan OR CMU. If in fact it is true that he was there working for CMU the case it makes Michigan's case better because it is EASY to make that Stalions was running his own independent consulting gig as a side hustle (which it truly appears was the case).
November 7th, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
Stalions was never a coach, but an analyst.
If there are rules about people working for two programs simultaneously, I'd imagine that those rules are much, much stricter for coaches and coordinators than a low-level analyst.