New details emerge into breadth of alleged Michigan sign-stealing operation
Details are continuing to be revealed on the Michigan sign-stealing operation, which could have a big impact on the Wolverines program and head coach Jim Harbaugh.
ESPN analyst Pete Thamel broke news on Monday afternoon that Conor Stalions, who is reportedly at the center of the operation, bought tickets for more than 30 Big Ten games over the past three seasons.
Thamel shared on The Monday Blitz on ESPN how schools learned that news.
“Ticket data at 11 of the 13 Big Ten schools showed that Stalions bought tickets. A lot of these were through third parties like StubHub and SeatGeek. But the schools still can track the names,” Thamel said. “Once the name emerged in our story on Friday, Big Ten schools started running Connor Stalions’ name and it was hit after hit. The ADs and other officials in ticket offices started communicating with each other, and it quickly appeared a pattern of Connor Stalions buying tickets to opposing teams’ games emerged.”
According to Thamel, Stalions purchased two tickets for this past weekend’s game between Penn State and Ohio State. It’s no surprise that those tickets went unused.
“Sources confirmed to me that on Saturday, when Penn State played Ohio State, Stalions had purchased tickets on both sides of the stadium – meaning the home bench and the visitors bench,” Thamel said. “Michigan obviously has two key games left on its schedule against Penn State and Ohio State. And buying tickets to put yourself in position to see the signals of both teams would certainly be something that would add to this operation.”
One of the unanswered questions in this story involves how Stalions was able to afford to purchase tickets and travel for others to go scout games.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has denied having any involvement or knowledge of Stalions’ alleged operation.
Thamel implied that it’s unlikely Stalions was able to afford to fund everything on his own.
“Stalions was making $55,000 a year – not a lot of money. So the money to fund these trips – he had a network we found of at least three different names of people that Stalions used to send out to these games. Who was buying the tickets? Who was paying for the trips? Who was potentially paying the people that made the trips?” Thamel said. “These are all questions that the NCAA is going to have to unearth.”
Thamel does not believe that this case will be resolved any time soon, but there’s no doubt that this is not a good look for Stalions or Michigan.
The 8-0 Wolverines have a bye this week, before playing at Purdue on Nov. 4.
“As for how it will affect this season and how it will affect Jim Harbaugh, I always caution when dealing with NCAA investigations that the only certainty is that they will move slowly. In this particular case, there really is no precedent in college football for a wide-ranging sign stealing operation. It would allegedly violate two rules – you cannot scout games in person and you cannot use video technology to capture signs,” Thamel said.
“Michigan already has an ongoing investigation into alleged recruiting improprieties. Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension on Jim Harbaugh to start the season. That case is not close. This case could be merged with that one for potentially a bigger case here, but it’s difficult to say what potential sanctions or reverberations could be from this if Michigan is found guilty. Because we’ve simply never seen anything like it.”