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NCAA confirms Connor Stalions was on Central Michigan sideline vs. Michigan State, helped decipher signals

by: Alex Byington08/15/25_AlexByington
Connor Stalions has been fired by Michigan.
Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

The NCAA Infractions Committee confirmed that infamous former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions did, in fact, attend the Michigan State–Central Michigan game in 2023. That news came according to its 74-page public infractions decision released Friday morning.

“On one occasion in 2023, Stalions personally engaged in-person scouting when he stood on Central Michigan University’s sideline wearing a bench pass and disguised in Central Michigan-issued coaching gear during the institution’s contest against Michigan State,” the NCAA document read. “According to interview statements by a former football staff member, Stalions attended that game in part to decipher Michigan State’s signals, but also to help a Central Michigan staff member with play calling.”

Stalions received an unprecedented eight-year show-cause order that would require NCAA approval for any college under the NCAA’s purview to hire him to any position within its athletic department during the next eight years. Stalions, a retired Marine Captain, served as a defensive analyst for the Michigan football program from May 2022 to Nov. 2023, when he resigned following Oct. 2023 reports of his sign-stealing enterprise being revealed.

Central Michigan’s involvement in the Stalions sign-stealing scandal likely centers around the program’s involvement in Stalions’ presence on the CMU sidelines during the 2023 season-opener against Michigan State in East Lansing. During that time, Stalions was still employed at Michigan.

In the NCAA Infractions document released Friday, the NCAA said both Stalions and Michigan “agreed that Stalions’ in-person attendance at the Central Michigan game constituted a violation” of NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1, which prohibits in-person scouting of NCAA games. Despite that admission, both Stalions and Michigan argued with the level of violation stemming from Stalions’ attendance at the Central Michigan-Michigan State game.

“In addition to their disagreements with the violations themselves, Michigan argued that any violations should be designated as Level II,” the NCAA document read. “Stalions believed that his attendance at the Central Michigan game should be designated as a Level III violation. The panel disagrees.”

NCAA issues Central Michigan notice of allegations for Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing scandal

Central Michigan, which hosted Stalions on its sideline during its 2023 opener at Michigan State, received its own Notice of Allegations (NOA) from the NCAA on June 27 for its involvement in the scandal, according to the NCAA Division I Infractions online dashboard.

According to the NCAA’s online infractions dashboard, the investigation into Central Michigan began Oct. 31, 2023, and has already involved multiple delays due to parties involved providing “false or misleading information” to NCAA investigators. An NCAA review board was held on Nov. 21, 2024.

Former Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain, who retired from his position following the 2024 season for another position within the athletic department, previously denied knowing anything about Stalions’ presence on Michigan State’s visiting sideline for their 2023 game in East Lansing.