Michigan analyst Connor Stallions has resigned amid ‘sign-stealing’ controversy, what is he accused of doing?
In the wake of the ongoing investigation into its actions, Michigan’s football program and the controversial analyst at the center of it all have parted ways.
While this latest development may in some way improve the image of the Wolverines, it would be safe to assume that given the nature of the scandal, significant damage has already been done.
Michigan’s Connor Stallions has resigned
According to reports on Friday, Michigan analyst Connor Stallions has resigned. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former Marine Captain, Stallions was of course at the center of an NCAA investigation into in-person scouting of future Wolverines opponents which resulted in sign-stealing. To that end, you may recall our previous report about the fact that he was suspended by the program with pay for his involvement. “Connor Stalions resigned his position with Michigan Athletics this afternoon. We are unable to comment further regarding this personnel matter,” the university said in a statement.
It’s worth noting that Stallions was not in attendance for a meeting with Michigan officials on Friday and moreover was not cooperative with any internal investigations. “As he informed the school earlier today, Connor chose to resign because recent stories regarding his time with the University of Michigan have created a distraction for the team,” his attorney told the media. “He hopes his resignation will help the team and coaching staff focus on tomorrow’s game and the remainder of the season. Connor also wants to make it clear that, to his knowledge, neither Coach [Jim] Harbaugh, nor any other coach or staff member, told anyone to break any rules or were aware of improper conduct regarding the recent allegations of advanced scouting.”
What exactly did Connor Stallions do?
Again, if you caught our previous report about the situation, then you will understand that Stallions is accused of maintaining and operating an extensive system of scouting the Wolverines’ future opponents through in-person efforts to steal their signs. It is understood that the analyst had been purchasing tickets in his name for various games and then in turn passing them on to various friends and acquaintances across several seasons. To be clear, many of these individuals have been captured on stadium security cameras apparently recording signals of assistant coaches with their cell phones. Though sign-stealing is not outrightly illegal where NCAA rules are concerned, the use of recording equipment is.
What happens to Michigan’s program now?
For the moment, it remains unclear as to what the next steps in this situation will be, however, as much as there has been no official indication that any other member of Michigan’s staff was aware of what Stallions was doing, one can imagine that it’s not a good look for a program that was already at the center of controversy, due to head coach Jim Harbaugh’s actions during the covid-19 dead period. Indeed, the suspicion that others were in the know where Stallions’ actions were concerned is now at an all-time high, and with Michigan currently 8-0 and ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff, scrutiny has only intensified. With that said, it should be noted that Harbaugh has denied any knowledge of Stallions’ actions.
Interestingly, Stallions’ resignation comes on the same day that Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti met with Michigan officials and a few days after meeting with other Big 10 coaches such as Purdue’s head coach, Ryan Walters, who actually weighed in on the situation during his weekly radio show. “It’s unfortunate. What’s crazy is they aren’t allegations. It happened,” he said. “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.” In case you didn’t know, the Wolverines will host Purdue on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. which is to say Walters has good reason to be concerned.