Sign-Stealing at Michigan: The Oregon Duck Tries to Barrel into the Big House

The Oregon Duck makes a swing through Michigan, just as the Wolverines are going through NCAA investigations and penalties for violations stemming from the COVID-19 recruiting dead period and an alleged sign-stealing scheme during their national title run.

The Duck continues its tour across the Big Ten Conference, introducing Oregon to the league. This stop is at Michigan. / @TheOregonDuck on X

The Oregon Duck's tour of the Big Ten Conference continues.

The Duck made his way to Ann Arbor Tuesday and East Lansing Wednesday. That's the state duo of Michigan and Michigan State.

let me in!!! pic.twitter.com/WpI0fbNYkx

— The Duck (@TheOregonDuck) August 7, 2024

let me in!!! pic.twitter.com/vwKYWmOQfa

— The Duck (@TheOregonDuck) August 7, 2024

Oregon plays both Michigan and Michigan State this fall. The Spartans are in Eugene on Oct. 4, a Friday affair, while the Wolverines play host on Nov. 2.

The Duck has now visited several members of the Big Ten, the league UO officially became a member of last Friday. As the Duck moves east, future stops include Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland, and Rutgers.

Back to the Big House visit. Is it objectively hilarious that the Duck is attempting to disguise itself in order to get into somewhere it shouldn't be? With everything going on around Michigan, yes.

First, Jim Harbaugh was just handed a four-year show-cause order Thursday. That bars the former Michigan and now Los Angeles Chargers coach from all athletically related activities at the collegiate level.

Does that matter to Harbaugh now that he's in the NFL and likely will be in four years? Probably not. That show-cause stems from recruiting violations during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.

Nov 26, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh walks onto the field rior to the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

But maybe Harbaugh is sympathetic to the atmosphere of compliance he fostered in Ann Arbor that resulted in the alleged sign-stealing scheme. The result of that investigation could soon cost his successor his job.

"Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal. I was raised with that lesson," Harbaugh said at a brief news conference earlier this week. "I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I have coached. No one is perfect. If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right. Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So, it's back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind."

New head coach Sherrone Moore is now at the head of the allegations he violated NCAA rules related to an investigation into impermissible scouting and sign-stealing that hung over the program through its run to last season’s national championship. The Associated Press reports that Moore has been accused of deleting text exchanges with Connor Stallions, the now infamous low-level staffer who coordinated off-campus scouting.

On the heels of now two investigations, the recruiting violations and the scouting violations, Michigan could be punished as repeat violators. Should a show-cause be issued to Moore, or others on the Michigan staff, the coaching carousel may be getting an early start in Ann Arbor.