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(CBS DETROIT) – Connor Stalions is speaking out for the first time since a sign-stealing scandal last fall cost him his job as a football analyst at the University of Michigan.
His story is featured in Netflix’s “Untold: Sign Stealer,” and local sports journalists Tony Paul and Isaiah Hole were interviewed in the film.
Stalions resigned on Nov. 3, 2023, after the NCAA launched an investigation into an alleged illegal sign-stealing scheme.
Reports of Stalions purchasing tickets to opponent’s games for numerous associates and one incident in which he reportedly attended a game at Central Michigan University in disguise on the field put him at the center of the investigation.
After months of silence, he’s finally speaking out about his experience.
“Finally, you’re starting to actually understand: Who is he? What’s his motivation? What’s his voice sound like?” said Hole, who covers the Wolverines for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. “That’s something the college football world hasn’t been able to really know or see.”
While the NCAA does not directly ban sign stealing, the method of doing it can get teams in trouble.
“Michigan hired him to be the sign stealer, and he stole signs,” said Hole. “It was more so about the method of which he went about it, which he contends was a grey area.”
“Just the extreme length that he went to that, I think, is what caught everyone’s attention,” said Paul, of The Detroit News. “He hasn’t admitted that he’s done it yet, but there’s pretty good evidence out there that he had.”
Hole said he came into contact with Stalions four days after his name entered the headlines last fall.
“I was there for him as a friend, first and foremost, because he didn’t have anybody,” he said. “All the people he would have talked to about all this were inside Schembechler Hall, and he wasn’t allowed to talk with any of them.”
One divisive topic is whether then-Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh knew about the alleged scheme.
“No, I don’t think Jim Harbaugh knew,” said Hole. “My question more so is: Why would he know? If he hires and sign stealer and the sign stealer steals signs, why would you know how he’s going about it? You’re not micromanaging. Why would he know that Connor was sending people to games?
“Whether Jim knew that he was going to the lengths he did, I don’t know,” said Paul. “But, the NCAA also says that it doesn’t matter if he knew directly, as the head coach, you are in charge of the institution whether you knew what was going on or not – which is where the NCAA is coming down on Michigan.”
The NCAA’s investigation is ongoing.
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