If you’ve been in a coma for the past 24 hours, you’re waking up to a bevy of Michigan football news concerning potential NCAA violations. Gone are the days of talking about cheeseburgers apparently; a nouveau version of “SpyGate” has surfaced at the college football level.
It was first alleged that Michigan football was sending a staffer to future opponents’ games in an attempt to steal signals. Stealing signs is not an illegal practice, but scouting in-person in an attempt to steal signals is. Then, on Friday morning, ESPN’s Pete Thamel dropped a report that Wolverine staffer Connor Stalions is a person of interest in the NCAA investigation. The NCAA has a particular interest in his computer, according to the article.
These two things are not related: Stalions is on the sidelines for every Michigan football game — home and away.
These things being under investigation is fine, but what isn’t are two things.
One, the NCAA is leaking information about its intent and what it believes Michigan may have done before having confirmed any credible evidence. In the court of public opinion, the Wolverines’ name and brand are irreversibly tarnished. If the NCAA investigation were to, say, fully clear the maize and blue, public perception has already shifted to declare Michigan guilty of accusations. It will follow the Wolverines forever, regardless of the outcome.
Michigan cannot defend itself due to NCAA bylaws, beyond what it already has, which is to say it’s cooperating while denying any wrongdoing. This feels punitive by the NCAA, which declined to accept Jim Harbaugh’s three-game self-imposed suspension due to the disagreement on whether the head coach was being forthcoming regarding what would have been Level II violations.
Secondly, as reported by Thamel, Big Ten coaches are off the record commenting on the case in ways that, again, haven’t been proven. That’s one thing, but the way it’s presented by Thamel in his article certainly bolsters the NCAA’s argument — again, without any facts. In fact, what’s being said is certainly incredibly hyperbolic.
The allegations against Michigan appear to transcend the normal coach griping about opposing coaches stealing signals, as the depth of the allegations — and the Big Ten’s on-record affirmation of an investigation — hint at something much more significant.
The allegations have rattled coaches and administrators around the Big Ten.
“This is worse than both the Astros and the Patriots — it’s both use of technology for a competitive advantage and there’s allegations that they are filming prior games, not just in-game,” a Big Ten source said. “If it was just an in-game situation, that’s different. Going and filming somewhere you’re not supposed to be. It’s illegal. It’s too much of an advantage.”
The picture being painted here by a likely rival (Thamel has long been rumored to have strong connections with Ohio State) is Michigan has a shadowy cabal of scouts infiltrating other programs, while also deploying MI6-level of technological intelligence.
Also, note what we did above was purposeful: we connected an oft-repeated rumor about Thamel’s connection with Ohio State, but without evidence (even though evidence not linked here does exist). Now, you have a connection being made if you’re sympathetic to Michigan and you’ll always read his work with a skeptical eye. That’s no different than what he did above: connect a credible story (on his part, not on the NCAA’s due to early divulgence) with a wild accusation tying Michigan to both the Patriots and “SpyGate” as well as to the Houston Astros in-game communication scheme that was coupled with stealing signs. Thamel, note, makes no attempt to differentiate between fact reporting and offering a rival’s hyperbolic statement.
So now the damage has been done, and no matter what Michigan does this season, many across sports will view its success with an asterisk. Shame on the NCAA for airing its dirty laundry in public before coming to a satisfactory conclusion and shame on the media who have decided to jump in and pile on for the sake of whatever personal agenda they’re advancing.