Rumors have circulated that the Michigan football program has been stealing play call signals from opposing teams to gain an advantage. Sign stealing has always been a part of sports. If you can figure out the other team’s signs because they’re not doing a good job at hiding them, then it’s perfectly fine. However, it is illegal to use technology to scout future teams and steal their signals. That is what Michigan has been accused of, and the case continues to look worse as more evidence comes out.
In 2020, Michigan was bad. They had only two wins, and head coach Jim Harbaugh was on the verge of losing his job. However, in 2021, they were suddenly one of the best teams in the country. They ended their losing streak against arch-enemy Ohio State, winning 42-27, won the Big 10 Championship and made their first College Football Playoff appearance. They would lose in the first round, but it was a big improvement. In 2022, they were even better, getting again to the CFP, this time undefeated at a perfect 13-0, and had dominated Ohio State in Columbus, winning 45-23. Nothing changed drastically from 2020 to 2021. The coaches, recruits, and roster remained generally the same. So what changed? It appeared as though Jim Harbaugh had finally figured things out, putting the Wolverines on par and even past Ohio State, and had gotten them to back-to-back playoffs. They had also been one of the second-half teams in the country, dominating the second half of nearly every game. It was thought that they had finally gotten back to the dominant Michigan of years past, but that might not be the case.
On Thursday, Oct. 19, the Big Ten Conference announced that the Michigan football program was under investigation for stealing signals, and as more information and evidence came out, the case only got worse for the boys in Ann Arbor. According to the evidence that has been released by the NCAA, Michigan staffer Connor Stallions bought tickets to ten different Big 10 teams’ games in order to film their sidelines and decode their signals to figure out what plays they were running in preparation for when Michigan played them later. It was later revealed that Connor Stallions was not the only one involved. He bought tickets to 30 different teams, including several CFP contenders to illegally scout them, and he sent other Michigan staff members to the games while he would be on the sidelines and relaying the information he had collected to the offensive and defensive coordinators. He evidently purchased the tickets on his own credit card, and according to the stadium surveillance tapes of the teams that played Michigan, he and others were in full view of the cameras, holding their phones up and recording the sidelines the entire game. Stallions according to the Michigan website only makes 55,000 dollars per year, meaning someone else must have funded the trip. There are also Venmo records of money going back and forth between Michigan members who are suspected to be involved.
Ohio State apparently was aware that Michigan might have been doing this, so the day before their 2022 matchup with the Wolverines, Ryan Day and his coaching staff changed their signs in the hopes that it would stop Michigan from being able to relay them to their team. However, this may not have worked. A video has surfaced of 2021 and 2022 Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud looking over to the Buckeyes sideline, looking at the signs for the new play call. In the background of the video, Stallions is also seen holding a binder, and intensely looking over at the opposing sideline at the same time that Stroud does. When Stroud turned back to the offense to relay the call to his team, Stallions and several coaches and players on the Michigan sideline appeared to make a motion toward the sky, indicating to the defense what they believed Ohio State to be doing on that play. Another picture shows Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr making a catch on the sideline, and in the background of the photo, Stallions can be seen holding a laminated sheet which appears to have a person making different motions with codes for each one. The sheet in question is suspected to be Ohio State’s signals. Many also find it suspicious how in the first half of last year’s game, the two teams went back and forth in the first half, eventually going to halftime with Ohio State up 20-17, but the second half was a different story. Michigan outscored the Buckeyes 28-3 en route to a 45-23 win, and a trip to the Big Ten Championship. The halftime could have been to decode their signs and figure out what Ohio State was doing in the second half.
Right now all of this is still just speculation, and everyone has to let the NCAA investigation run its course. The main accusers right now are Ohio State fans who feel like they’ve been cheated out of two Big Ten Championship game appearances and at least one CFP trip. We’ll have to wait for more information to come out, but no matter what happens, Michigan will be under close watch for a long time.
