ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions, whose actions led to an ongoing NCAA investigation into sign-stealing, claimed Saturday that he knew nearly every signal from opponents in seven games across two seasons.
Stalions made the statement on social media in response to TCU head coach Sonny Dykes, who told On3 that his team altered some of its signals before defeating Michigan in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinal.
“We got some favorable matchups because of that, and, yeah, there were some big plays in the game,” Dykes told On3.
Stalions pushed back at the notion that Michigan’s wins or losses were determined by his role in decoding opponents’ signals.
“There were seven games during my time at Michigan where I knew almost every signal throughout the game,” he wrote. “Those were: 2021 Michigan State, 2022 Michigan State, 2022 Penn State, 2022 Ohio State, 2022 TCU, 2021 Georgia, and 2021 Wisconsin.”
“We lost three of those games because we didn’t tackle well — and Georgia was historically good. We won the other four because we dominated the line of scrimmage and tackled well. Blocking, ball security, tackling, run fits, and coverage tools. That’s football. This is not rocket science.”
The NCAA launched its investigation nearly a year ago, alleging in a notice that current Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore — then an assistant under Jim Harbaugh — had violated rules, including deleting text messages exchanged with Stalions. Those messages were later recovered and turned over to the NCAA. Moore has stated he has cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so.
Michigan is expected to suspend Moore for two games this upcoming season, a self-imposed penalty intended to address accusations that he failed to fully cooperate with the probe. The NCAA will determine if that punishment is sufficient. The university had a hearing with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions last month, and a ruling typically takes around three months in contested cases.
The Wolverines begin their 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State, followed by a trip to Oklahoma — where Moore once played offensive line — on Sept. 6.
While the NCAA does not explicitly ban sign-stealing, it does prohibit sending scouts to future opponents’ games and using electronic equipment to record signals. Records from other Big Ten programs revealed that Stalions purchased tickets to multiple games involving future opponents and sent individuals to digitally capture sideline signals.
Stalions was initially suspended by Michigan and later resigned. He declined to participate in the NCAA investigation.
Separately, Michigan was already placed on three years’ probation, fined, and given recruiting restrictions as part of a resolved recruiting violation case. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh also accepted a four-year ban from college coaching as part of that agreement.
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