Signgate The Third
UFR tomorrow or Monday; bye week and there's been all… this.
The latest article. Washington Post article. New points of information:
- An "outside investigative firm" approached the NCAA with "documents and videos the firm said it had obtained from computer drives maintained and accessed by multiple Michigan coaches."
- The sources for this claim "spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about an ongoing NCAA investigation," which cool NCAA, just keep doing this.
- A "detailed schedule" of Stalions's plans was submitted with an annual cost of 15k.
Plenty of vague words the article, particularly "a computer drive maintained and accessed by Stalions as well as several other Michigan assistants and coaches." Unless an outside investigative firm was happy to take a case founded on hacking into Michigan servers, here is what this means, in all likelihood:
- One of Stalions's recruits flipped on him.
- He/she provided a link to a Google Drive or equivalent.
- That's where the documents came from.
So yet another piece of evidence that indicates Stalions is an idiot: he gave virtually unknown strangers access to his CommitCrimes.docx.
This article does clarify some things. One: the steady drip, drip, drip of one story after another that barely changes the overall picture is indeed the work of a firm hired to damage Michigan's reputation as badly as possible. Michigan is executing exactly zero PR in response.
One thing it does not clarify is what the nature of the "drive" is, a detail seemingly left blank intentionally to let people fill in the worst case scenario. "A computer drive maintained and accessed by Stalions as well as several other Michigan assistants and coaches" could be Jesse Minter reading CommitCrimes.docx and giving his enthusiastic approval, or it could be just another folder on a cloud drive that no one else goes into.
I could even assert that Stalions might have password protected his portion of the drive, or limited access, but no, that doesn't appear to be how this guy rolls.
I do think this might end up being wrong. I can't imagine Michigan has an internal shared drive that Stalions could give someone else permission to access, especially after the Michigan IT disaster this August. I mean, I guess I can because WHY NOT but surely at some point we will throw a stone and hit a reasonably professional individual. If this was a stand-alone google drive anyone inside the program who accessed it will be turbo-fired.
[After THE JUMP: oh good a manifesto]
Another latest article. SI, Richard Johnson. This one is sourced from "a then student at a Power 5 school who was looking to break into the college football industry" who texted back-and-forth with Stalions. Most of it is just the kind of stuff a mid-20s dude trying to impress someone would say(“I’m close with the whole staff", etc.) The two main bits of interest are thus. One:
“Pre-covid, stole opponent signals during the week watching tv copies then flew to the game and stood next to [then Michigan offensive coordinator Josh] Gattis and told him what coverage/pressure he was gettin,” Stalions continued.
This is doesn't excuse the hiring folks to watch games bits, but does provide some explanation about how Stalions managed to worm his way into the athletic department. The guy probably had some natural talent for figuring these things out.
Two:
Stalions, now 28, revealed that he was part of a small group of people—two of whom he said were at low-level positions on different college football coaching staffs—who were putting their heads together on a long-term plan to run the Michigan football program. Stalions claimed to have a Google document between 550 and 600 pages long that he managed daily, containing a blueprint for the Wolverines’ future. He referred the document as a movement more than a plan, dubbing it “the Michigan Manifesto.”
“Any idea you could ever have,” he wrote, “there’s a place where it belongs in the document. It’s super organized.”
Ah. So it's one of those guys. This bit makes me feel much—much—better about the idea Stalions was calling his own number, unencumbered by the idea anything he was doing was wrong. He is a lunatic.
What the hell, Warde? Obviously Jim Harbaugh should not be hiring lunatics off the street. But he is Jim Harbaugh, a supremely talented football coach who does things like hire lunatics off the street, or Shemy Shembechler. What in God's name is Warde Manuel doing? You are seriously not vetting Harbaugh's hires after the Shemy incident? The constant stream of embarrassing but ultimately inconsequential news is one thing. This is another.
This should be the end of his tenure as athletic director. Job one is fix all the shit Harbaugh's going to blow past. Job one.
What about the money? The Post article cites that spreadsheet claiming that the operation was going to cost 15k a year. This naturally leads to questions about where that money is coming from for a guy who makes 55k a year. I have one dollar that answer is "mom and dad."
Video posted publicly from the father of Connor Stalions shows Stalions and his father on the sidelines of Michigan’s 2017 away game at Indiana wearing sideline passes.
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) October 24, 2023
Story on key questions of the NCAA’s probe into UM’s alleged sign-stealing operation https://t.co/Ynhx6nU8Q0 pic.twitter.com/LpMQwEh3e4
Sideline passes are hard to come by.
Meanwhile 95% of the time there's an article in the newspaper about how This 25 Year Old Bought A House In A City there's a paragraph that says "mom and dad are loaded." A lot of Stalions backstory makes more sense in that context. My dude can drive back to Ann Arbor when Navy is on the road because he doesn't have to care about money. Devin Gardner remembered him as the guy at every road game:
Devin Gardner on Connor Stalions for the @michiganinsider podcast:
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) October 23, 2023
"(Connor Stalions) used to be just a fan. He would be at every away game we went to. Like when we got off the bus, go in the hotel, he would be there waiting, just cheering us on. I was like, 'This dude is so… pic.twitter.com/sEFYPMcq9e
Gardner was at Michigan from 2010-14. Stalions would have been 15-19 in that span. One doesn't show up at every Michigan road game for a period of four-five years as a teenager unless your parents are well off. There is literally a post on MGoBlog from 2012 in which a "cstalionsuofm" says Frank Clark gave him his gloves. I don't think Stalions was saying "hello dad I need money for Crimes"; I do think it's likely the prospect of a parental backstop is all but mandatory if you're going to live your life like Stalions apparently was.
Noise. If you've been on Twitter the past week you've probably noticed various Ohio State fans breathlessly relating facts like "Stalions stood next to the defensive coordinator" and "Michigan knew a pass was coming on third and goal from the four and then gave up a touchdown." All of this is meaningless. Yes, obviously Stalions was the sign-stealing guy. Therefore he got put next to the people who wanted to know about signs. You're allowed to steal signs. All that matters is Stalions going outside the bounds of the rules to steal said signs. Not one thing an OSU fan has posted is evidence of anything other than Stalions being the sign-stealing guy, which no one denies.
Silver lining. Hoo boy, some of these quotes coming out make OSU's program sound dumber than dirt:
Former Ohio State OL Dawand Jones says the Buckeyes suspected that Michigan had stolen their signs and made some changes, but “couldn’t change everything.” pic.twitter.com/Md2aCT4fey
— The Silver Bulletin (@tSilverBulletin) October 25, 2023
You mean to tell me that you thought Michigan had your signs in 2021 and didn't have a plan for 2022? That you were caught off guard for the freakin' Game? That you couldn't just use wristbands? At some point it's on you, right?
Also, obligatory:
Young guys take note. This is how you fire through a guy! ( via @aidanhutch97 ) pic.twitter.com/fjwCVtLZ5P
— Europe's Elite (@EuropesEliteEE) December 11, 2021
October 26th, 2023 at 3:07 PM ^
Here's another good one from elsewhere...
October 26th, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^
This just makes me sad. I empathize with the kid from a decade ago. It just doesn't seem like he grew up. :(
October 26th, 2023 at 3:16 PM ^
What lunatic goes around on the internet using his actual name so much. Honestly.
October 26th, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
Username checks out. Either that or when you introduce yourself people say “Gesundheit.”
October 26th, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
Wow. One thing for sure is twitter responses never disappoint. There’s some real knee jerkers in there
October 27th, 2023 at 10:50 AM ^
Ugh, the Hoke era. Just to update you Connor, your good friend Devin Gardner was not the problem
October 26th, 2023 at 3:17 PM ^
username checks out. what an awful username haha
October 26th, 2023 at 5:56 PM ^
I think Jim will be taking our DC to the NFL with him. Not sure what other D coaches accessed the google page? This sucks, because I wanted Harbaugh to stay until he retired. Now we are having to do a coaching search with who knows what penalties from the NCAA.
October 26th, 2023 at 7:34 PM ^
I don't think a google drive containing videos of opponent sidelines is the smoking gun that it's being made out to be, depending on the specifics. If Stalions used his own money to pay people to film sidelines who are not affiliated with the program to do so, then is it even breaking an NCAA rule? I thought the rule stated that coaches weren't allowed to go scout in person.
October 28th, 2023 at 10:05 AM ^
Blog-posts like these *are* counter-PR.
Michigan may not be able to say anything, but the press of course can, and so can we-- on social media, at least, and even old-school word-of-mouth, backing up stuff like Webb's work with anecdotal details that even the press can't reasonably share (norms / verification / bias), or citing (within reason) info behind paywalls.
Not that we should go off the rails, smear Conor (just let his quotes speak for themselves), or dig a hole under a wall / violate copyright or anything.
Just mass... trickling.
Counter-trickling, call it.
Happy trick or treat, bitches. Time for some witchery
October 26th, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
The amount of people who think “sign stealing” is against the rules is still flabbergasting
October 26th, 2023 at 2:21 PM ^
In the case of Stalions standing next to the DC, that's sign interpreting, not stealing. The opposing team is literally putting their signs out there for all to figure out. May the best sign decoder win. If anyone should stop using the term "stealing," it should be us. (Not picking on you specifically, almost everyone is using the term)
October 26th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
I mean, "stealing signs" is a term, although at least in baseball you have to work at it a little bit. The manager doesn't call games from the sideline with giant flash cards -- and literally nobody complains if you're able to decode the third base coach's signs. The only ones that get you in trouble are the catcher's signs, and that's because -- I can't believe I'm paraphrasing Deion Sanders -- knowing the pitch that's coming is a disproportionately huge advantage for a batter.
If I told you Ronald Acuña set a Braves team record for the most stolen bases this year, and that he stole more bases, by far, than any other player who also hit 40 home runs, only if you didn't understand baseball would you think he needed to go to jail for petty larceny. That's what's happening here. :) It's not the term that's the problem so much as the fact that people who don't know the first thing about football are reacting to it.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
The only ones that get you in trouble are the catcher's signs
And even then, if you have a runner on second, with a clear shot to the catcher, it is understood that he will relay whatever he can to the batter if you are dumb enough to use 1 fastball, 2 curve, etc. Baseball just doesn't allow you to use cameras or apple watches or whatever to spy on the signs, communicate to the dugout, and then bang trash cans.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:19 PM ^
You do realize that MLB pitchers get the calls in with an earpiece now, right?
October 26th, 2023 at 3:23 PM ^
Yes, I'm familiar with PitchCom. Not everyone uses it, and even then, it's not really germane to the point I was making. But thanks for the "erm, actually..."
October 26th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
It's the most annoying part about all of this.
Because the Venn Diagram of people who think that Sign Stealing is illegal and people who think this story is Very Serious and deserves show causes for all coaches, vacating wins, and an immediate postseason ban is a circle.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
And not a single talking head or sports "journalist" has had an attorney of some known repute (or any pute) on record to parse the actual language (thanks Erik and Ghost) and explain what is/isn't allowed and how the internet allegations (because those aren't even official) relate.
Too many snowflakes in the world not committed to true understanding. If M really did something wrong, let's understand the real world implications and identify a punishment that befits the wrongdoing.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
I know reddit is an absurd hivemind/echo chamber but r/cfb has become one of the most insanely stupid pages to visit on the internet lately. Not a single person that sub seems to realize that.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^
It’s a shame, I used to really enjoy that sub. Even the OSU fans in Michigan game threads were often funny.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:17 PM ^
I like rCFB most of the time but I had to mute it. Its impossible to be there right now. Usually that place is more immune to the reddit hivemind stuff but good lord I dont think anyone in there stopped to ask 'wait. whats the actual NCAA rule on this'. Everyone thinks they just caught Michigan red handed in the scandal of the century. Mute.
October 27th, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
They think that because they want to think that!
This whole thing is just them trying to wish a thing true...
October 26th, 2023 at 3:08 PM ^
Now it's a "cheating" scandal on OSU twitter. The biggest ever. pffffft
October 26th, 2023 at 3:40 PM ^
You'd think they know what real cheating is.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:18 PM ^
Yep. You can tell by the number of people who are like.
Look he has a card with their signs on it!. Like yeah man, thats not illegal.
He's standing next to your coaches telling them what he thinks is going to happen!! Also not illegal
October 26th, 2023 at 3:50 PM ^
They think that the Michigan coaches reacting to OSU changing the play is a smoking gun. Of course OSU is going to pass. Their 10-ply-soft offense couldn't run water downhill.
October 26th, 2023 at 4:46 PM ^
It's not just the amount of people who think sign stealing is against the rules. It's the people who think sign stealing gives any major competitive advantage. People act like we hacked and stole team's entire playbooks and had a perfect play to counter every one of their plays. Not only is this very clearly not true, but it's also football at the end of the day
October 26th, 2023 at 2:17 PM ^
So funny that this guy was grinding MGoBlog during some of the darkest days of the football program. That confirmation is just about all I need that all of this is self-motivated and self-funded.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:17 PM ^
I think Brian touched on this in the round table, but while the Big Ten Can impose discipline before the NCAA investigation is completed, this is very unlikely to happen, correct?
October 26th, 2023 at 2:20 PM ^
I think it’s possible, but I can’t imagine it would be a good look for them to levy a punishment before the investigation is complete. Especially if it turns out to be a nothing burger/the punishment they already imposed doesn’t fit what actually occurred.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:49 PM ^
They changed the rules to let OSU be in the big ten championship game mid-season to give the best chance to have a big ten team in the playoffs. That same logic should go this time around. Michigan has the best chance in the playoffs.
October 27th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
I don't think that was just to "give them the best chance to have a team in the playoffs," they did it because it was logical to do so in the COVID year when they had 2 games cancelled because of COVID at other schools, and one for COVID at their own. Not changing the rule in that case would have been monumentally stupid.
But they're also not going to do the monumentally stupid thing this year (trying to keep Michigan out). The Big Ten clearly cares a lot about money and their TV deals, that's why all the alignment stuff has happened in the first place. They aren't going to jeopardize that for innuendo.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
If they forego due process in an attempt to block Michigan, and then things come out to be even slightly less bad than the noise currently in the press, then they are opening themselves up for a huge lawsuit. And they should be reminded of that regularly. Hell, I hope that they are drafting complaints as we speak, and just waiting to drop one on the appropriate party.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
osu is not going to the playoff if it loses to Michigan by 28 points, Not much chance of an in-season punishment
October 26th, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
Misfire. Disregard.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
duplicate.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:35 PM ^
duplicate.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
dammit. Blog isn’t blogging right.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^
Sure it is, if the Big Ten wants to light a bunch of money on fire or get sued
October 26th, 2023 at 3:21 PM ^
If this was happening to anyone else, I couldnt imagine a conference preemptively nuking one of their owns teams' seasons without an investigation actually concluding. What's the damning evidence out there right now? The only facts we have are that Connor Stallions was running an off-the-books scouting ring.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
I think that's almost beyond impossible. You could argue (pretty easily) that if they levied a punishment that kept them out of competition for a national title that UM could sue for almost an infinite amount of dollars. I mean back of the napkin math you could make anything from $100m to $1b seem plausible with the negative impact it could have on UM football.
Not to mention it's not like everyone is thinking of this like osu. UM is a bell cow of the BIG so from a practical perspective and chances of the BIG winning it all...it's seems terribly stupid.
October 26th, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
Unless they want to get their asses sued off by Michigan and/or righteously piss off the TV networks that fill their coffers every year, the conference won't do a goddamn thing.
October 26th, 2023 at 6:05 PM ^
The networks would have a fit if the B1G tried to ban us from the playoffs.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
Shouldn't Michigan AD have a dedicated risk person dreaming of all the ways the program can screw up and then go around putting mitigation measures? What does the Michigan Compliance Office do?
October 26th, 2023 at 2:31 PM ^
They deal with the god damn customers so the coaches don't have to. They have people skills; They are good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?
October 26th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
This would be smart, but that's not really Compliance's job. Compliance and risk are really two different pieces here. But I think the past few years have indicated this is not a horrible idea at all. Most large companies do this.
October 26th, 2023 at 4:52 PM ^
It's still, uh... catching on in academia. Baby steps.
October 26th, 2023 at 11:06 PM ^
Michigan doesn’t have an AD, they have an empty suit, Peter principle personified.
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