Let’s face it – the Michigan football program has given us one of the most reprehensible coaching staffs in recent memory.
Federal prosecutors in Detroit have just unveiled a chilling piece of evidence in the case against former Wolverines co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss (no relation): dozens of surveillance stills showing him entering team offices mere seconds or minutes before computers in those very rooms were used for alleged hacking attempts.
Weiss, once a trusted lieutenant under Jim Harbaugh, stands accused of a years-long cyber predation spree, in which he allegedly breached third-party databases holding data on student-athletes from more than 100 schools.
Using that information, prosecutors say, he targeted primarily female athletes (3,300 of them), hacking their social media, email, and cloud accounts to steal thousands of intimate photos and videos never meant for anyone’s eyes but their own.
Another grimy Michigan football coach
Who’d have thought that barely removed from a major cheating scandal, the least offensive thing Michigan coaches have done in recent years is stealing opposing team signals?
What a group of grimy individuals. From Jim Harbaugh to Sherrone Moore, and now Matt Weiss. Although Weiss’s case is already well-embedded in the justice system at this point, whereas Moore is just starting with his legal struggles.
The 42-year-old Weiss is facing 24 federal counts: 14 for unauthorized computer access and 10 for aggravated identity theft. More than 70 women have joined civil lawsuits against him, seeking justice for invasions that feel profoundly personal in an already vulnerable world of college sports.
The latest bombshell came in response to Weiss’s motions to suppress evidence and dismiss charges. His team argued that initial university police warrants were overly broad, tainting subsequent FBI searches. But prosecutors fired back with security footage from December 2022—a tense period as Michigan prepared for the College Football Playoff.
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An epidemic
It’s hard not to see the irony. In an era where college athletes fight for privacy amid NIL deals and social media scrutiny, a coach allegedly exploited the very systems meant to support them. Databases like these were designed for medical and administrative use—not as a hunting ground.
Weiss has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers are fighting hard on procedural grounds. But this footage shifts the narrative from “who did it?” to “how do we ensure accountability?”
Michigan coaches have weathered sign-stealing scandals and recruiting violations, but this feels different—more insidious. It preys on the trust young women place in the athletic ecosystem. If convicted, Weiss could face decades behind bars.
And it is more unwanted publicity for a university currently going through it with the Sherrone Moore scandal. Moore was fired earlier this month for cause after a university investigation found credible evidence of an inappropriate, years-long intimate relationship with a female staff member.
Shortly after, he was arrested and charged with felony third-degree home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering following allegations that he barged into her apartment after she ended the relationship and reported it to the school.
The inappropriate behavior towards women seems to be an epidemic for the coaches at Michigan.