On Thursday afternoon, the news broke that the Michigan Wolverines were facing an NCAA investigation relating to allegations of signal stealing, and a recent report offers some pretty concerning insight into the sign-stealing allegations.
Early Friday morning, ESPN published a report detailing the alleged sign-stealing efforts from Michigan, revealing that the operation centered around a man named Connor Stalions – a low-level Michigan football staffer with a military background.
Stalions technically works in the recruiting department for Michigan, but ESPN reports that it is known throughout the Michigan program that he spends most of his time deciphering signals from opponents, with a source telling ESPN “he had one job.”
Sources told ESPN that Michigan has used an “elaborate” scouting system to steal signals from future opponents since at least 2021 and that this operation is “worse” than both the Houston Astros and the New England Patriots, who were involved in prominent signal-stealing scandals.
“This is worse than both the Astros and the Patriots — it’s both use of technology for a competitive advantage and there’s allegations that they are filming prior games, not just in-game,” a Big Ten source told ESPN. “If it was just an in-game situation, that’s different. Going and filming somewhere you’re not supposed to be. It’s illegal. It’s too much of an advantage.”
It will certainly be interesting to learn what the NCAA investigation reveals.
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