Michigan Football Suspends Embattled Staffer Connor Stalions

The NCAA is investigating the Wolverines for a potentially illegal sign-stealing operation.

Michigan football suspended analyst Connor Stalions with pay amid the program’s sign-stealing investigation, Wolverines athletic director Warde Manuel announced Friday.

Stalions is at the center of the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan’s potential sign-stealing. ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Mark Schlabach describe Stalions as a “a low-level staffer with a military background” who played a key part in the alleged “elaborate” in-person scouting system to decode opponents play signals.

According to ESPN’s report, Stalions is a former Marine captain who has worked in the recruiting department since May of 2022. He is reportedly known within the program for his ability to decipher signals from opposing teams, even claiming on his now-deleted LinkedIn page to using “Marine Corps philosophies and tactics” to identify “the opponent’s most likely course of action and most dangerous course of action.”

Michigan has suspended analyst Connor Stalions while the NCAA investigates sign-stealing allegations pic.twitter.com/mTPp9qzIpV

— Austin Meek (@byAustinMeek) October 20, 2023

Stalions spent 2013 to ’16 as student assistant while enrolled at the Naval Academy, then as a graduate assistant at the Navy following his role as a second lieutenant at the Marine Corps. On his now-deleted LinkedIn page, Stallions claimed to work as a volunteer assistant for Michigan between 2015 to ’22.

Forde: Michigan ‘Sign-Stealing’ Probe Casts Doubt Over Recent Success

As part of the investigation, the NCAA wanted access to Stalions’s computer

The NCAA first prohibited programs from sending staffers to opponents’ games in as in-person scouts in 1994, as a way to create a more equal playing field.

Coach Jim Harbaugh denied in a statement any knowledge of sign-stealing within the program over the past few years, along with denying knowledge of off-campus counting by staffers.