Suspended University of Michigan football staff member Connor Stalions was allegedly seen on the Central Michigan sidelines last Saturday in CMU gear wearing sunglasses. Stalions is suspended because he is at the center of the NCAA’s investigation into off-campus scouting and signal stealing. ESPN college football pundit Paul Finebaum thinks there is a deep-seated problem in Ann Arbor.
“You have to start looking at the crumbs,” said Finebaum on “Get Up” this week. “This entire program has something extremely nefarious going on.”
Finebaum continued on his rant and imploring any governing body who would listen to hold Jim Harbaugh accountable or at least ask a few questions.
“Jim Harbaugh,” Finebaum said at one point, “It looks like he’s sheperding a sleezy, disgusting, cheating program.”
Shots fired for sure.
What Is Going On With Michigan Football?
The man believed to be Stalions is seen wearing sunglasses during a night game, and in video of the game whenever a play ended near where he was standing he appeared to shield his face from cameras.
According to ESPN Stalions paid for tickets at 12 Big Ten schools and for several other games involving possible Michigan opponents. A former Division III football player and coach said that Stalions paid him to attend games involving Michigan opponents and record their sideline with his cellphone.
We’re lucky this is just about sports so we can place it in proper perspective and have fun with its absurdity. Sign stealing? Really?
You can imagine the Michigan football coaches looking at cellphone video of teams’ sidelines breaking down calls during prep sessions.
But this is the nature of ultra competitive sports with billions of dollars on the line. The people involved will do just about anything to gain a competitive edge.
So far Michigan hasn’t made any official comments, but this is a bad look for the storied program.
The Buck Stops With Harbaugh
Head coach Jim Harbaugh began the season serving a self-imposed three-game suspension for lying to NCAA investigators about violations during the COVID-19 dead period.
Earlier this year Glenn “Shemy” Schembechler, son of longtime Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, resigned from his position as Michigan’s assistant director of football recruiting after making racist comments on social media.
Now we have Stalions, already suspended for alleged sign stealing, pulling this alleged stunt. All of this is happening under Harbaugh’s watch. He is the man in charge, and while a big-time college football program has tons of staff and many things happening at once, don’t be fooled into thinking Harbaugh isn’t privy to everything.
The only way Stalions would do what he is alleged to have done is if he felt that his head coach promoted the “whatever it takes” strategy to win games. Including sign stealing.
All of this is stupid and if Michigan is in fact guilty, they should be levied with whatever the appropriate punishment is.
Feinbaum is right. Something nefarious is going on at Michigan, but it’s going on at every other big-time college football program too. We just haven’t heard about it yet.
