PHOENIX — Nearly 24 hours after Michigan won its first undisputed national championship since 1948, NCAA president Charlie Baker addressed the main controversy of the 2023 college football season—the Wolverines’ alleged sign stealing. Baker shed some light on the association’s early involvement in the situation.
When the NCAA was apprised of former staffer Connor Stalions’s efforts to gather information on future Michigan opponents through advance scouting and video recording, it took the unprecedented step of releasing investigative evidence to the Big Ten and Michigan. Not long thereafter, the bombshell information went public that NCAA enforcement was looking into the undefeated Wolverines.
Baker said he did not know how the information was leaked to the public, but he was “sure” it wasn’t via the NCAA. (Sign stealing is not against the NCAA’s rules, but in-person advance scouting is, as well as using recording devices to document signals.) Once the investigation became public knowledge via a Yahoo Sports report on Oct. 19, Michigan’s season was engulfed in controversy.
