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The Michigan football team just had its infractions hearing regarding the NCAA's investigation into the program's illegal in-person scouting situation. Low-level staffer Connor Stalions resigned in the middle of the 2023 season when the NCAA opened up an investigation into his scouting scheme. No punishment has been handed down to the program quite yet, but the infractions hearing means that we are close to finding out just how serious the NCAA believes Stalions' work was.
NCAA president Charlie Baker did not attend the infractions hearing, but his first comments about it came to light on Wednesday. It sounds like it was a productive hearing for both sides.
“It was a thorough hearing of the issues, and everybody that wanted to speak their piece, for the most part, got it,” Baker said, according to a post from Ross Dellenger.
Baker also noted that a ruling could come before the start of the 2025 college football season as he expects one in 30-90 days.
The investigation into the Michigan football program started back in 2023. The Wolverines were 7-0, and they had won the Big Ten and gone to the College Football Playoff each of the past two seasons. The NCAA opened up the investigation because of Connor Stalions' elaborate scheme to decipher signals from other teams.
Sign-stealing is completely legal in college football, and it happens all the time. However, the findings of the investigation suggest that Stalions did break some rules in order to get some of his signs. For example, it is illegal to in-person scout another team, and that is where things get dicey for Michigan. Stalions purchased numerous tickets for college football games around the country, and the belief is that he sent friends and family to the games to video the sidelines of future Michigan opponents.
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The in-person scouting is what got the Michigan football team in trouble. Using film to steal signs or stealing signs in-game is perfectly legal.
Once the investigation started, people started to wonder how big of an advantage Michigan was getting because of this sign-stealing scheme. Well, the schedule lined up perfectly for everyone to find out. Connor Stalions was gone, and every opponent knew that they needed to be careful about their signs. The Wolverines hadn't played any difficult teams yet that season, and they finished the year with matchups against #9 on the road, #2 at home, #18 at a neutral site, #4 neutral and #2 neutral.
Michigan finished the season with a gauntlet, and it still ran the table and won the national championship. That run caused Charlie Baker to say this after the national championship:
“At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn't win the national title fair and square,” Baker said, according to an article from ESPN.
The Michigan football team did break some rules, so punishments are going to come. The question is, how serious will they be? The Wolverines didn't play with any ineligible players, and the end of the 2023 season showed that they were going to win it all no matter what.
