ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines are fighting allegations made by the NCAA in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing case, per reports.
According to Yahoo Sports, the Wolverines' response stems from the NCAA’s, which came out in the early part of January, in which the university has refuted many of the alleged rules violations and accused the association of “grossly overreaching” and “wildly overcharging” the football program without credible evidence that other staff members knew of Stalions' illegal in-person scouting system.
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A portion of Michigan’s 137-page document suggests that the school will not enter into a negotiated resolution with the NCAA over the alleged wrongdoing as they continuously defend former head coach Jim Harbaugh, current head coach Sherrone Moore, the low-level assistant Stalions, and a multitude of staff members.
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The NCAA believes that Stalions ran an elaborate sign-stealing system during his time with the men in maize, which guided him and them to winning the 2023 College Football Playoffs and ultimately becoming national champions.
A spokesperson associated with the NCAA confirmed receiving the Wolverines' response. However, they declined to provide any additional details and refused to confirm the document that Yahoo Sports received on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
The same response came from Michigan’s side, whose spokesperson declined to comment, saying the investigation is ongoing. The Big Ten officials also declined to comment.
The Wolverines said the notice of allegations sent to the school in August 2024, which they believe made “Numerous factually unsupported infractions, exaggerates aggravating factors and ignores mitigating facts,” per the document.
Michigan requested that the NCAA apply “Common sense and commitment to fairness” and treat the case not as a serious Level I infraction but as a “Level II standard case.”
The document detailed why many of the 11 allegations against them (six of them deemed as Level I) were without “Merit or credible evidence,” the school contends.
That includes allegations against Harbaugh and Moore, who was an assistant on staff during Stalions' alleged advanced scouting operation and was found to have deleted text messages with him.
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However, the main dish to the entree was the one who allegedly tipped off the NCAA to Stalions' alleged scheme.
According to the documents, Michigan said the tip came from a former employee on its own campus, which the Wolverines believe the NCAA used to produce at least some of the charges in the notice of allegations.
While Michigan respects the secrecy of confidential sources, the document allegedly states that the NCAA can present evidence and infractions based only on “Information that can be attributed to individuals who are willing to be identified.”
The case has been scheduled for a hearing before the Division I Committee on Infractions, an independent administrative body that decides infraction cases.
The committee has the authority to set and conduct hearings and prescribe penalties.
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The Wolverines allegedly request a “Pre-hearing conference” to discuss the tipster’s origins and their role in the charges against the school.
According to reports, a hearing before the Committee on Infractions will likely happen over the coming weeks as the school and association enter a lengthy fight similar to the one the Tennessee Volunteers waged against the NCAA in 2023 over recruiting violations.
The Volunteers avoided a postseason ban and suffered financial penalties, recruiting, and scholarship reductions.
The NCAA’s notice of allegations and Michigan’s response allegedly did not stipulate proposed penalties against the school.
However, six of the 11 violations were deemed Level I, and the NCAA says that Michigan “Failed to monitor” its football program given the severe nature and multi-year length of the Stalions alleged scheme.
According to reports, Michigan and several of its coaches are considered repeat offenders, an allegation that the school has refuted.
A separate investigation found Harbaugh and Moore guilty of COVID-era recruiting violations, placing Michigan on three-year probation and Harbaugh receiving a four-year show cause, preventing him from coaching in the NCAA.
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Michigan acknowledged that some impermissible in-person scouting appeared to have occurred “Though less than the (NCAA) claimed” and that some recruiting violations occurred.
All of the alleged wrongdoing from Michigan would be addressed in the Committee on Infractions hearing, and it will advise committee members of self-imposed penalties.
According to the report obtained by Yahoo Sports, the Wolverines said they believe the COI will see that actual evidence has “not borne out” the NCAA’s initial assessment of “The resulting, sensational public narrative, or the approach taken in the notice of allegations. ”
Despite producing phone, computer, and other data to the NCAA, Michigan says that investigators have not proven that “any coaches were aware of, much less participated in “the alleged scheme.
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Some of the NCAA’s 11 allegations are unrelated to Stalions’ scheme and are instead connected to recruiting violations allegedly committed by assistant coaches, many of them no longer with the program.
Michigan acknowledged that evidence against former assistant coach Chris Partridge, who was fired for covering up evidence in the sign-stealing probe were unsubstantiated.
Michigan acknowledged that former assistant Partridge Jesse Minter, who joined Harbaugh in the NFL as the Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator, sent over 100 combined texts to a recruit outside the NCAA’s contact period. Still, they vehemently refute allegations that their assistants held tryouts with recruits in the spring of 2023.
As for Harbaugh, Michigan said the NCAA’s allegation against him was “Without merit.”
The NCAA alleged that Harbaugh failed to cooperate between Oct. 20 and Jan. 24, 2024, when he did not produce text and telephone records from his cell before he left for the NFL.
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Michigan said imaging of Harbaugh’s personal and work phones was part of a substantial initial data collection that included phones and other devices from 10 people, including two computers assigned to Stalions and an external hard drive owned by Stalions.
However, due to “Legitimate concerns,” the data that was being imaged contained personal and sensitive information and/or attorney-client communications, so the images were withheld.
The NCAA did not receive Harbaugh’s images by the deadline and deemed him to have failed to comply.
It seems that both sides are engaged. Based on what happened with Tennessee, this legal battle could extend well into the 2025 season or beyond.
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