Marquette, MI – August 15th, 2025 – Connor Stalions, a former Michigan football staffer, is accused by the NCAA of leading a sign-stealing operation against future opponents. The situation began when Stalions was spotted on the sideline of a Michigan State and Central Michigan game, recording signals. In a July interview, Stalions claimed to be familiar with the signals from seven games over two seasons.
He specifically referenced the following matchups: the ’21 Michigan State game, the ’22 Michigan State game, the ’22 Penn State game, the ’22 Ohio State game, the ’22 Texas Christian game, the ’21 Georgia game, and the ’21 Wisconsin game. Stalions mentioned, “We lost three of those games because we didn’t tackle well, and Georgia was historically good.”
Last year, Sherrone Moore, who previously served as an assistant under head coach Jim Harbaugh, took over as head coach after Harbaugh left for the Chargers. The Big Ten initiated an investigation that resulted in a three-game suspension for Moore, which he faced last season. Moore also faced scrutiny for allegedly deleting over fifty text messages with Stalions before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has stated that he will continue to cooperate with the NCAA investigation. Additionally, Michigan imposed a two-game self-suspension on Moore for the upcoming season, which will take effect during weeks three and four against Central Michigan and Nebraska.
After a two-year investigation, the NCAA announced its findings and penalties for Michigan. Beginning with a one-game suspension for Moore in 2026, on top of the two games in 2025, the sanctions include a $20 million fine, loss of postseason revenue for the next two seasons, a four-year probation period, a $50,000 fine plus 10% of the football team’s budget, a fine equivalent to 10% of all football scholarships, a 25% reduction in official visits, and a 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications.
Many coaches received show-cause penalties as well, which require institutions to explain why they should not be penalized for employing coaches who committed major recruiting violations. The most significant sanctions included a ten-year show-cause penalty for Jim Harbaugh, an eight-year penalty for Connor Stalions, a three-year penalty for Denard Robinson, and a two-year penalty for Sherrone Moore.
The NCAA stated there were sufficient grounds for a multi-year postseason ban but determined that such a ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer with the program. The NCAA panel remarked, “Harbaugh ran a program that was largely dismissive of rule compliance. There was little, if any, emphasis on following the rules.”
