University of Michigan football sign-stealing scandal

In 2023, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) opened an investigation into sign stealing accusations against staff members of the Michigan Wolverines football team.

Background
Sign stealing refers to the practice of covertly identifying the hand signals used by opposition coaches to instruct their players during a game. For most of the history of college football, sign stealing was not an issue. Traditionally, teams would huddle between snaps, with plays frequently sent in by player substitution. However, with the increasing emphasis on no-huddle offenses in the 21st century, signaling plays from the sideline became necessary, prompting teams to attempt to steal opponents' signs.

The NCAA does not directly ban sign stealing in football, but does ban teams from using electronic equipment to record opponents' signals. The Michigan investigation specifically centers on NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1, which states "Off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents (in the same season) is prohibited, except as provided in Bylaws 11.6.1.1 and 11.6.1.2", with neither exception applying in Michigan's situation. This rule was adopted in 1994 due to dramatic differences in athletic program resources among NCAA members. In 2023, according to Associated Press journalist Ralph D. Russo,"Programs such as Michigan, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama have annual athletic budgets that surpass $200 million, almost double some of those even in their own Power Five conferences. Go outside the Power Five and even the biggest-spending major college football schools have budgets closer to $50 million than $100 million." Visible signals are necessary because the NCAA currently prohibits the use of coach-to-player audio technology (except in bowl games ), also due to differing program resources.

The scandal
On November 3, 2023, Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions, who was at the center of the scandal, resigned. However, the investigation continued. On November 6, 2023, a former employee of a rival Big Ten team, linked multiple college football teams to the sign-stealing scandal as well and claimed to the Associated Press that it was his job to steal signs and that he was given details from multiple league schools, allowing him to compile a spreadsheet of play-calling signals used by Michigan. The employee, speaking anonymously, provided documented evidence to back his claim. The same day, Central Michigan University, a Mid-American Conference program, became a party to the investigation against the Wolverines. Evidence suggested potential off-campus scouting violations, as Stalions (or a man resembling Stalions that Central Michigan was somehow unable to identify) was present on the sidelines for a game Central Michigan played against Michigan State on September 1, 2023.

On November 7, a University of Michigan source alleged to The Athletic that Rutgers, Ohio State and Purdue had stolen Wolverine sign signals and shared them as well, with documented evidence backing this claim. Michigan says Purdue, Ohio State, and Rutgers decoded and shared signs used by Michigan. Evidence was also submitted by Michigan showing that prior to Michigan's victory over Purdue in the 2022 Big Ten championship game, Rutgers shared defensive signals with Purdue, while Ohio State shared offensive signals. Documents also showed evidence of sign stealing for a game one of the teams played against the Wolverines in 2020 as well. A Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Detroit Free Press revealed that Stalions filed no expense reports while employed by the University.

On November 6, 2023, the NCAA reported that they found no connection between head coach Jim Harbaugh and the illegal sign-stealing done by Stalions. Despite this, on November 10, 2023, the Big Ten Conference ultimately decided to suspend Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 season, starting with the game which the Wolverines would play against Penn State on November 11. On November 16, 2023, Harbaugh decided to cancel a planned court hearing and accept his three-game suspension. The same day, it was also revealed that the Big Ten had agreed to end its role in the sign stealing investigation.

On November 17, 2023, Wolverines linebackers coach Chris Partridge was fired for allegedly instructing current members of the football team how to respond to questions relating to the sign-stealing scheme. Partridge later released a statement on Twitter saying that his termination was due to a failure “to abide by the University directive not to discuss an ongoing NCAA investigation with anyone associated with the Michigan Football Program.” It was also revealed that the NCAA investigation was still ongoing.

After Michigan defeated Washington in the CFP National Championship Game, NCAA President Charlie Baker came out and issued a statement that Michigan won the national championship “fair and square.” Baker stated that he defended his decision to inform the university and the Big Ten during the season that the NCAA was investigating the allegations due to his concern that it may have been impacting the outcome of games. He concluded that “I don’t believe at the end of the season it did. And I think that’s important.” "We do have a series of discussions going on with the infractions folks about whether or not we can't do something to speed up the pace of our investigations," Baker said. "Certainly in a case like this, we'd like to be able to move a lot more quickly."