Michigan football is fighting back against the NCAA’s probe into the program over alleged sign-stealing with a formal response, Yahoo Sports reports. According to documents obtained by the outlet, Michigan has accused the NCAA of “grossly overreaching” and “wildly overcharging” the university despite a lack of evidence.
The university received a formal notice of allegations in the case in August 2024 that featured several Level I violations surrounding an alleged sign-stealing operation spearheaded by former analyst Connor Stalions. The school faced Level I charges for a “pattern of noncompliance,” along with Stalions, former coach Jim Harbaugh and two other assistants.
The school contends that out of 52 games involving Michigan opponents that Stalions allegedly scouted, only one was attended by Stalions himself. Eight others were attended by then-Michigan staff members, while others were attended by friends and family, which is not an NCAA violation. The university alleges much of Stalions’ sign-stealing operation was achieved through legal avenues, and not in a way that would provide an unfair advantage.
In total, Michigan asked the NCAA to treat most of its infractions as Level II, and not serious Level I violations.
In the response, Michigan also revealed that the alleged whistleblower to the sign-stealing scheme was a former employee of the university. However, the identity of the tipster remains sealed by the NCAA. Michigan claims that the NCAA should not be allowed to use information from anonymous sources in its investigation.
Additionally, Michigan explained deleted texts by coach Sherrone Moore with Stalions that occurred on the day the investigation became public. According to Moore, he deleted 52 text messages with Stalions in frustration after he believed that Stalions’ violations would take credit and attention away from what the players and coaches achieved at Michigan. The text messages were ultimately recovered.
Michigan was previously handed three years of probation after a separate NCAA investigation into the university regarding illicit recruiting violations during the pandemic dead period. The nature of that case makes many involved in the sign-stealing investigation potential second-time offenders, including Moore.
Harbaugh also received a four-year show-cause penalty. He has since left for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers after leading the program to the 2023 national championship, the program’s first since a split title in 1997. Harbaugh declined to apologize after the findings.
