The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions chair, Norman Bay, held a news conference Friday, Aug. 15, to answer questions about the punishment it imposed on Michigan football for its sign-stealing scandal that went from 2021-23.
Bay made clear at the top of his statement: The goal of Connor Stalions, the former Wolverines staffer and mastermind of the scheme, was obvious when he orchestrated the impermissible in-person advance scouting of 56 separate games of future (or potential future) opponents.
“The intent was clear,” Bay said. “To gain substantial competitive advantage.”
The NCAA came to its conclusion in a 74-page report made public after gathering evidence including interview testimony, multiple witnesses, videos, photos, a master chart that listed Michigan’s opponents and who could attend the games, a google calendar to track those attendees, a document called “how to steal signals,” a recorded phone call of Stalions, ticket receipts and transfer data among other evidence.
Stalions purchased tickets to games and then forwarded them to others, be it another staff member, interns, student athletes or his own acquaintances. Stalions told them they were participating in “counterintelligence” and the group was referred to as the “KGB” (also the name of the primary security and intelligence agency of the Soviet Union from 1954-91).
“You don’t put together a network of individuals called the KGB that records ‘dirty film’ where the costs is in the tens of thousands of dollars unless you intend to gain a substantial competitive advantage,” Bay said.
While Bay said the violations Stalions engaged in were deemed as Level I by the NCAA, what “made this serious violation even more serious” was U-M’s failure to cooperate. Four staffers on U-M’s staff — Stalions, former coach Jim Harbaugh, current coach Sherrone Moore and ex-staffer Denard Robinson — were found to not follow NCAA directives.
Did Jim Harbaugh know? The ‘record is incomplete’
Harbaugh, Bay said, had a contentious relationship with the university’s compliance office and led coaches and staff to disregard the NCAA rules. After gathering statements and conducting interviews, the NCAA found the monitoring efforts of the chief compliance officer and her U-M staff were “not welcomed by the football program.”
“They were viewed as ‘a thorn in (Harbaugh’s) side,’ ‘a roadblock’ and described as ‘scum of the earth,'” Bay said.
Bay was asked if the NCAA found any evidence Harbaugh knew about the internal scouting ring led by a staffer he hired. There’s no evidence found by the NCAA that Harbaugh knew about the scheme.
However, the “record is incomplete,” Bay said.
Harbaugh never turned over any emails or text messages, and refused to be interviewed by NCAA enforcement staff.
Additionally, any evidence Stalions had was long gone.
He smash his phone into “1,000 pieces” according to a recording of a phone call obtained by NCAA investigators, and threw that, along with his hard drive, into a pond.
“We may never know the full extent to which others in the program were aware of what Mr. Stalions was doing,” Bay said.
Final punishment from NCAA imposed on Michigan
The final punishment imposed was multi-faceted: Four years of probation, a multitude of fines that will amass tens of millions of dollars, a three-game suspension for Moore, recruiting sanctions, show-causes for Harbaugh (10 years), Stalions (eight years), Robinson (three years) and Moore (two years).
What it did not include was a postseason ban or the vacating of any of the victories during the time of the infractions. (Still, Michigan announced Friday afternoon it will appeal the NCAA’s ruling.)
The rationale, per Bay, in part was U-M acted quickly when the NCAA notified the Big Ten and member institutions on Oct. 17, 2013, and there was no evidence “anything (Stalions) did affected the outcome of Michigan’s games (the rest of) that season,” which included wins over Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama and Washington to win the national championship.
The NCAA determined it did not want to penalize the current student athletes and coaches involved in the program for the transgressions of those in the past, but the report did state the combination of the 2021 NCAA violations (recruiting sanctions) combined with those that were uncovered Friday as well as U-M’s unwillingness to cooperate were “sufficient grounds for a multi-year ban.”
So why didn’t they wipe any victories?
“Vacation of records is only in play when there’s ineligible competition,” Bay said. “That was not a factor present in this case.”
A number of staffers under Harbaugh during his tenure have been punished for various infractions.
Former Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale both agreed to show causes with the NCAA in April for recruiting infractions. Moore, Harbaugh and Robinson are now repeat violators.
Stalions might never work in college football again, though he may return in an athletic-facing capacity if someone hires him after eight years.
The public debates have turned to this question: Does the NCAA punishment of Michigan meet the crime?
Depending on the colors worn on gameday, there are very different answers.
“I think the penalty here was very significant,” Bay said. “I think it was meaningful, and I think it sends a message to the membership that these rules matter, that having a compliance program and a strong culture of compliance matter, and that schools and individuals that fail to comply will be held accountable.”
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Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Did Jim Harbaugh know about Michigan sign stealing? NCAA: ‘Incomplete’
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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