'Sign Stealer': Was Ohio State behind the investigation into Connor Stalions and the Michigan Football program?

Chris Breiler | Aug 27, 2024

Nov 25, 2023; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day leaves the field following the NCAA football game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. Ohio State lost 30-24. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports / Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY Sports

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Nearly one year after news broke that the University of Michigan football program was being investigated for a sign-stealing scheme, fans finally got to hear from the man at the center of it all: Connor Stalions.

On Tuesday, Netflix released a documentary featuring the former U-M football staffer, where we learned a little more about the individual who is accused of utilizing a "vast network" for advanced scouting across college football. The documentary provided some background on Stalions, including his upbringing as a Michigan football fan, his time in the Naval Academy, and how those two worlds collided in a way that helped land him a position with the Michigan football program.

At one point, the documentary turned its focus from Stalions to the mysterious third party investigative firm that apparently began looking into the U-M football staff member during the fall of 2023. The third party firm that conducted the investigation took its findings to the NCAA, which led to the sign-stealing controversy becoming the biggest story in college football over the last year. Although the third party firm responsible for that investigation remains anonymous, the documentary certainly hints at who may be responsible.

Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline beside off-field analyst Connor Stalions, right, during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. / Adam Cairns / USA TODAY NETWORK

Will Hobson, a sports reporter for the Washington Post, provided some insight into the findings that led the NCAA to launch its investigation.

"My understanding is that there was an investigative firm that, through the fall of 2023, was basically investigating Michigan's sign-stealing operation," Hobson said. "The firm had developed at least one source on the inside of Michigan Football, and they had documents from inside the Michigan Football program that showed the schedule of games, and identified the names of people that were going to be filming."

This is what's at the heart of the NCAA investigation, and the very thing that could ultimately lead to future penalties for the Michigan Football program. While Stalions denies he had any involvement in paying individuals to attend games and provide him with footage of future opponents signals, there's a long papertrail that seems to suggest otherwise. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that a former division three coach said that Stalions paid him to record multiple Big Ten games, and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports indicated that multiple schools had surveillance footage of individuals recording games from the seat where Stalions had purchased a ticket.

"I reached out to the schools through the Freedom of Information Act," Wetzel said. "And stadium security video says there's a guy in Connor Stalions' seat, all by himself, just video taping the opposing signs. Kind of stands out."

Michigan football analyst Connor Stalions was fired after evidence of him orchestrating a sign-stealing scheme was unearthed. / Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

The question then became, how was Stalions funding this operation? After all, low-level staffers typically aren't pulling in enough to afford premier seats and travel expenses to send scouts to football games around the country. The potential answer to that question is that a U-M sports booster was funding it - the infamous "Uncle T." As it turns out, the investigation into "Uncle T" eventually led to a man by the name of Tim Smith, who's a U-M booster and formerly part of the Michigan NIL collective, Champions Circle. Although Smith publicly denied any involvement in funding the sign-stealing scheme, his membership as part of Champions Circle was recalled just days after the accusations surfaced.

For his part, Stalions never provided much clarity on the issue of sending indivdiuals to scout future opponents on his behalf. Instead, he says that it was fairly routine for him to purchase and sell tickets to sporting events around the country, and that he made a good amount of money from doing so. At one point in the documentary, Stalions does admit that he would sometimes receive video from the individuals who purchased those tickets. But instead of utilizing that information, Stalions claimed it was like receiving a gift that you already had.

"I've had a friend send me film," Stalions said. "And it's kind of like when your aunt gets you a Christmas present that you already have. You're not going to be rude and be like, 'oh, I already have this, I don't need it.' You know? It's just like, 'thanks, appreciate it.' You know, they feel like they're helping out or whatever, when I already have the signals. I've already memorized the signals. So I just say, 'thanks,' whatever. You know?"

Connor Stalions signals from the sideline / Christopher Breiler

For both Stalions and his lawyers, the real crime wasn't whether or not he purchased tickets to football games or had friends attending those games on his behalf. Instead, the real crime was committed by the mysterious third party firm that somehow got its hands on all of the information that led to the NCAA investigation in the first place.

"All of the NCAA's process has been based upon a spreadsheet that Connor had," said Stalions' lawyer. "That spreadsheet has never been shared with anyone. The Washington Post got it. We think his email was hacked."

There's no question that Stalions believes he was targeted by this third party firm and that the information they obtained was done so illegally.

"Just as much as national journalists have been writing conspiracies about me, a lot of Michigan alumni have conducted their own investigations into who may have hacked me, who this unnamed third party private investigating firm that the NCAA and the Washington Post claims but won't name."

But Stalions didn't stop there. Not only does he believe that his personal information was hacked and taken illegally, he also seems to believe that some of the folks down in Columbus were responsible for it all.

"The journalist at the Washington Post happened to go to school with Ryan Day," Stalions said. "You have a private investigating firm that opens up an LLC in Michigan at the same exact time that an unnamed LLC private investigating firm hacks into my computer. I doubt that's a coincidence."

Although he pushed back on the suggestion that he somehow has knowledge of Ohio State's involvement in the investigation into Stalions, Hobson - the sports journalist at the Washington Post with a small connection to Ryan Day - says he can't rule out the possibility.

"I mean look, I can't say with 100% certainty that nobody from Ohio State was involved, because I don't know who paid this firm," Hobson said. "So it's entirely possible somebody connected to Ohio State or, you know, Michigan State was involved with this. But whoever hired them really doesn't change the fact that the evidence was what the evidence was. The NCAA didn't open an investigation because they got an angry voicemail from Ryan Day. They opened an investigation because somebody collected evidence that, in their opinion, suggested there was an operation that was going on in violation of NCAA rules."

At the conclusion of the documentary, it states that the NCAA is seeking a three-year coaching ban for Stalions as part of its NOA issued to Michigan - and that Stalions intends to challenge through the full infractions process.

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