With undefeated Michigan returning to action Saturday after a week off, discontent is simmering across the Big Ten regarding the conference’s inaction and public silence in the face of the Wolverines’ signal-stealing controversy.
A late-afternoon Thursday virtual meeting of league athletic directors, including all four incoming Pac-12 schools, with commissioner Tony Petitti stretched into early evening eastern time, lasting over 90 minutes. That followed what sources told Sports Illustrated was a sometimes-heated call with the conference’s football coaches Wednesday night, who vented to Petitti about what they see as a lack of response to Michigan’s alleged rule-breaking—much of which was intended to gain a competitive advantage against other Big Ten schools. Petitti is scheduled to be in Ann Arbor for the Big Ten field hockey championships this weekend, sources said, which could provide an opportunity to speak directly with Michigan officials on the matter. Another call with the coaches is expected in the coming days.
A source familiar with the AD call says the difficult spot Petitti is in was acknowledged, and he was given credit for listening both to the coaches and athletic directors. The majority of ADs on the call had an appetite for some action from the conference office.
“I think the Big Ten needs to do something,” says a source familiar with what was discussed on the call. “I think this is a values and character issue. Like the values and the soul of the Big Ten because of how expansive these alleged actions were. We can all see it. And it's getting worse by the day. So I think this is Tony's first leadership moment, and I have confidence he's gonna rise up to the occasion.”
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What form that action takes and when is the biggest issue hanging over the entire league. There was little appetite for a fine, which would be more reminiscent of the NFL’s discipline structure. Some ADs on the call were willing to ban Michigan from the Big Ten championship game entirely. Others believe that a suspension for Harbaugh, and potentially his coordinators, would be appropriate as long as clear video evidence exists linking recruiting analyst Connor Stalions to the coordinators.
The thought process behind a suspension is about forcing Michigan to change the way it operates, akin to the way the sign stealing investigation has forced Big Ten schools to alter their operations. Michigan State had quarterback Katin Hauser go to the sidelines to get the playcall verbally in their Oct. 21 game against the Wolverines, a tactic they’ve used when they noticed an opponent is good at stealing signs in-game. Michigan has already operated with multiple assistants serving as head coach this season. Four assistants shared the duties during Michigan’s first three games due to Harbaugh’s self-imposed suspension regarding a separate NCAA probe into recruiting violations.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel was not on the call Thursday, sources said. Football coach Jim Harbaugh participated in part of the coaches’ call Wednesday but then exited so the rest of the league could have its say.
As Harbaugh’s Wolverines roll toward a potential third straight College Football Playoff bid, hanging over them is the NCAA investigation into the alleged scheme of impermissible, in-person scouting of future opponents. The operation was masterminded by Stalions, who sources said sent associates to dozens of games during the 2022 and ‘23 seasons to film opponent play signals for Michigan to decipher. Stalions was suspended with pay by Michigan on Oct. 20, two days after the NCAA notified the Big Ten that it had received information about the scheme.
The NCAA investigative process will take months to play out, which means that if any entity is going to step in to penalize Michigan in a manner that affects this season, it would have to be either the Big Ten or the CFP itself. The latter group declared a hands-off stance when its first rankings of the season were released Tuesday. “That’s an NCAA issue,” said selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan. “That’s not a CFP issue.” That leaves the Big Ten, which thus far has showed no sign of wanting to derail a potential playoff bid for one of the league’s flagship programs.
“That couple of million extra bucks that we make when we put two teams in the CFP is awfully nice,” an administrator at a Big Ten school says, when asked for a reason why some ADs would not want to ban Michigan from the conference championship game.
Still, around the conference, frustration is growing that, despite the warp speed at which the Wolverines' alleged rule-breaking has become apparent, the investigatory process is moving more slowly. “We already know the NCAA is incompetent,” a former Big Ten coach said. “Now we know the Big Ten and the [Playoff] committee are gutless." There is also the notion for a buck-stops-here message to be sent by Petitti, according to a source, especially with four new entrants on the way. The problem is an administrative hardline is easier to take when a win is guaranteed. When it’s not, Petitti can risk his knees being cut out from under him before he’s been in the job for even a full year.
Just how good Michigan is has a lot to do with the urgency of the situation. As one Big Ten administrator said Thursday afternoon: “Ohio State can make all of this go away. Ohio State beats them in a few weeks, all of it goes away, right? Hell, if Penn State beats ‘em it really goes away.”
The Wolverines play Penn State on Nov. 11, and a source said it would make sense to have something definitive from the league before that game is played, while another said they expect the league to act “quickly.” But Petitti gave no indication on the call of the timing of any potential discipline—or if any discipline was coming at all.
The league’s sportsmanship policy gives the commissioner latitude to begin an investigation and administer penalties. There are standard disciplinary actions and major disciplinary actions, with the latter needing the approval of the Joint Group Executive Committee of university presidents. The policy states: “The JGEC may only approve, deny, or lessen the proposed penalty; it shall not increase the proposed penalty.”
One consideration for the conference, however, is likely the potential for legal action by Michigan if the school or Harbaugh personally do not feel they received due process—including a formal investigation—from the conference before being punished. If Michigan is banned from the conference championship game, it could trigger a legal battle where the Wolverines go to court to force the league to let them play, should they win the East.
“If you're Michigan and they throw you out of the game, you wouldn't spend $100,000 to fight to see if you can get a court to rule that you're the rightful champ of the East?” a Big Ten administrator says.
Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, declined comment when contacted Thursday afternoon.
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The Stalions saga took a new turn this week when images and video surfaced of a person resembling him on the Central Michigan sidelines for the Chippewas’ game against Michigan rival Michigan State on Sept. 1. The person was dressed in Central Michigan coaching apparel and had a pass for the visiting bench area at Spartan Stadium. CMU athletic director Amy Folan put out a statement Tuesday saying the school was investigating the identity of the person but has said nothing else.
After Central Michigan’s victory over Northern Illinois on Tuesday night, head coach Jim McElwain noted the investigation of “the sign stealing guy,” and indicated that neither he nor his staff knew how that person wound up in its bench area. “There’s no place for that,” said McElwain, who coached wide receivers at Michigan under Harbaugh in the 2018 season.
Harbaugh has denied any knowledge of Stalions’s alleged scheme and denied directing anyone on his staff to engage in off-campus scouting of opponents.
The introduction of Central Michigan into the scandal as a potential enabler of Stalions has ratcheted up outrage within the Big Ten and elsewhere. How it may have happened has generated considerable debate within the coaching profession.
Some believe Stalions might have been able to pull off an audacious, in-person spying expedition on his own. Others are convinced that he had help from the Chippewas’ staff.
“It is extremely unlikely that a person could go unnoticed in the team box without someone discovering in short order,” one director of football operations, who is in charge of bench passes at a Power 5 school, told Sports Illustrated. “A stranger in coaching gear would be noticed quickly and they would be out of the box immediately.
“Coaching gear, pass, standing that close to the coaches–[the CMU staff] knew he was there. I don’t know if the head coach would know everyone in the box, but the staff would know.”
While various Stalions-related controversies rage, the season goes on. And the coach who will face Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor as a major underdog reportedly didn’t hold back in discussing the situation on his radio show Thursday night.
“It’s unfortunate,” Purdue’s Ryan Walters said when asked by the show host about the Michigan situation. “What’s crazy is they aren’t allegations. It happened. There’s video evidence. There’s ticket purchases and sales that you can track back. We know for a fact that they were at a number of our games.”
