A surprisingly defiant Connor Stalions, an ex-Michigan staffer who played a pivotal role in the Wolverines improper scouting and sign-stealing scandal, says he has no regrets about his actions.
Stalions was accused of orchestrating the elaborate sign-stealing operation. Over three years, Stalions allegedly bought tickets to more than 30 Big Ten games, including games involving Michigan’s opponents and potential playoff contenders.
It was part of an effort to record signals from opposing teams’ sidelines, which would violate NCAA rules against in-person scouting of future opponents.
He even reportedly attended a Michigan State-Central Michigan game wearing a fake mustache and Chippewas gear.
Stalions though, feels he did nothing wrong. In fact, he seems to believe he is the victim in this story.
“I don’t regret a thing, and I would do the same thing over again,” Stalions said in a new Netflix documentary.
Michigan Sign-Stealing Scandal
Connor Stalions, according to the director of the Netflix documentary titled Untold: Sign Stealer, believes he was doing what everybody else in the NCAA was doing.
The difference being, that he was better at it.
“I obtain signals the same way every other team does,” he says. “What sets me apart is the way in which I organize information and process it on game day.”
Jim Harbaugh, the former head coach of the Michigan Wolverines football team, was hit with a suspension due to his alleged involvement in the sign-stealing scandal.
The Big Ten Conference suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season as a result of the university’s violation of the conference’s sportsmanship policy.
Harbaugh accepted the suspension, which was a sanction against the university and meant to blunt the eventual blow delivered by the NCAA, and it allowed the team to continue competing.
Harbaugh got his championship ring and then hightailed it to the NFL, returning to the league as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Harbaugh Does Not Apologize, New Michigan Head Coach Hit With Notice Of Allegations
Like Stalions, Harbaugh has remained defiant in the face of the cheating scandal.
“Never lie, never cheat, never steal. I was raised with that lesson.” Harbaugh said earlier this month. “I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I have coached.”
“No one is perfect. If you stumble, you apologize, and you make it right. Today, I do not apologize.”
Except Stalions cheated. Michigan cheated. And it’s highly unlikely nobody else on the coaching staff was aware of what he was doing.
Not to mention, the team was still allowed to finish out their championship season despite it being obvious that they were breaking NCAA rules.
On Sunday, Michigan received the final version of a notice of allegations from the NCAA against Harbaugh, Stalions, and current head coach Sherrone Moore.
The new Wolverines coach is accused of “deleting more than 50 text message exchanges between himself and ex-Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions, who is at the center of the scandal.”
Moore’s texts were later recovered and he turned them over to NCAA enforcement staff.
Stalions thus far has borne the brunt of the scandal, but Moore might be facing his own punishment. A Michigan insider suggests he could be forced to sit out up to four games next season.
Michigan opens the season under Moore on Aug. 31 at home against Fresno State.
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