(WXYZ) — The NCAA has announced punishments for the Michigan football program in regards to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing saga that first broke in the middle of U-M’s championship-winning season in 2023.
Watch Ross Jones's reports on the punishments:
Meanwhile, in statements released this afternoon, the school says they will appeal the decision and Athletic Director Warde Manuel said he agrees with that decision.
The punishments are:
- Four years of probation
- $50,000 fine, plus 10% of the budget for the football program.
- A fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing associated with the 2025 and 2026 football seasons.
- A fine equivalent to the cost of 10% of the scholarships awarded in Michigan's football program for the 2025-26 academic year.
- A 25% reduction in football official visits during the 2025-26 season.
- A 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications in the football program during the probation period.
- Connor Stalions: An eight-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
- Jim Harbaugh: A 10-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period, which will begin on Aug. 7, 2028, after his four-year show-cause order from a previous case.
- Denard Robinson: A three-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
- Sherrone Moore: A two-year show-cause order, during which he is suspended from a total of three games. Michigan self-imposed a two-game suspension for Moore during the upcoming 2025-26 football season. The panel determined that a suspension for one additional game was appropriate. Therefore, Moore also will be suspended for the first game of the 2026-27 season. Apart from the three-game suspension, Moore is not prohibited from engaging in coaching or other athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
Watch Alex Crescenti on what the punishments mean going forward:
Michigan has released the following statement on the punishments, saying they will appeal:
We appreciate the work of the Committee on Infractions. But, respectfully, in a number of instances the decision makes fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence – or lack of evidence – in the record. We will appeal this decision to ensure a fair result, and we will consider all other options.
The school also released the following statement from head coach Sherrone Moore:
I am glad that this part of the process has been completed. I greatly respect the rules governing collegiate athletics and it is my intent to have our program comply with those rules at all times. I will continue to focus my attention on our team and the upcoming 2025 season.
And from Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel:
It is never our intent to be in a position where we are accused of any rules violations. I fully support Coach Sherrone Moore, our student-athletes and staff as they prepare for the season ahead. I appreciate Coach Moore’s continued commitment to ensuring his program operates in compliance with applicable rules. I acknowledge the Committee on Infractions’ decision to not penalize our current student-athletes by eliminating postseason opportunities; however, a postseason ban should never have been a consideration in this case. I fully support the university’s decision to pursue an appeal. Coach Moore and I will not have any further comment
See the latest information and watch the press call from the NCAA in the video below
The NCAA released its 74-page report from the Division 1 Committee on Infractions Panel, saying that the scouting violations from Stalions were corroborated by interview testimonies, ticket receipts, transfer data and other evidence
"This case centered on Stalions—the architect behind an elaborate impermissible scouting scheme. By his own admission, Stalions expended significant resources and effort to plan the scheme, decipher signals, and document the signals for use by other staff members. In his role, Stalions had access to key members of Michigan’s coaching staff. Aspects of the record suggest that there may have been broader acceptance of the scheme throughout the program. At a minimum, there was a willful intent not to learn more about Stalions’ methods. However, the true scope and scale of the scheme—including the competitive advantage it conferred—will never be known due to individuals’ intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information," the report reads.
The NCAA said that given the facts of the investigation, a multi-postseason ban would be appropriate, however, the panel "determines that a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program."
You can read the full report below:
U-M released a statement on Friday afternoon that said, "We appreciate the work of the Committee on Infractions. But, respectfully, in a number of instances the decision makes fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence – or lack of evidence – in the record. We will appeal this decision to ensure a fair result."
According to the NCAA, there were 56 instances of off-campus, in-person scouting of 13 future regular season opponents across 52 conducts.
Watch below: Sherrone Moore suspended two games by U-M after Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal, per report
Last summer, Michigan received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA regarding its investigation into advanced scouting. Other outlets have reported that Sherrone Moore and Connor Stalions exchanged texts back when Moore was the offensive coordinator in 2023, but the contents of those texts are unclear.
Stalions previously worked as a defensive analyst at Michigan from May 2022 to October 2023. The NCAA announced an investigation in October 2023, alleging that Stalions was part of a sign-stealing plot at Michigan.
Watch below: Ex-Michigan staffer Connor Stalions did not file any expense reports, AP's FOIA request finds
It’s important to note that, like stealing signs from a pitcher in baseball, the act of stealing signs is not explicitly prohibited in college football. However, what is illegal is advanced scouting, which was banned by the NCAA in 1994 as a "cost-cutting measure designed to promote equity for programs that could not afford to send scouts.”
Stalions was accused of sending people to opponents' games to record signs. Stalions proceeded to use those videos to analyze the signs and decode what teams were signaling for their players to do in real time.
Stalions resigned from his role at Michigan weeks after the news of the NCAA investigation broke. The NCAA initially contacted Stalions following the 2023-24 season and interviewed him in the spring of 2024. Before this announcement, no public information had been released regarding which specific bylaw(s) the NCAA claimed Stalions violated.
Watch below: CMU investigating whether Michigan staffer was on its sideline scouting MSU
Since leaving Michigan, Stalions has worked as the volunteer defensive coordinator at Detroit Mumford and as the offensive coordinator for Belleville High School during the 2024 playoffs. He spoke about the whole saga for the first time publicly in a documentary released on Netflix last year. Stalions said in the documentary he did nothing wrong, although he said he could not get into most details on the NCAA investigation for legal reasons.
We already know that Head Coach Sherrone Moore won’t be on the sideline for Michigan’s Week 3 game against Central Michigan and the Week 4 game against Nebraska, due to a self-imposed suspension that ESPN reported back in May.
This is the second season in three years that Michigan's head coach won't be on the sideline as part of a self-imposed suspension. Two seasons ago, Jim Harbaugh was suspended three games by the school for his role in recruiting violations, before being suspended again by the Big Ten later in the season in regards to the Stalions scandal. Moore was also suspended one game for those same recruiting violations.
Watch Tiarra Braddock report on what the fans are saying:
