NCAA fines Michigan football program for ‘impermissible scouting scheme’

The NCAA announced Friday discipline for the Michigan Wolverines football program for a variety of infractions, most notably an “off-campus, in-person scouting scheme” spearheaded by a former staffer.

Michigan was fined $50,000 plus 10% of the budget of the football program, as well as fined the equivalent of its revenue share from the next two college football postseasons — financial losses that could exceed $30 million, reports Sportico.

The violations also include a failure to cooperate, impermissible recruiting, and head coach responsibility.

The bulk of the discipline relates to a signal-stealing scheme orchestrated by former staff member Connor Stalions. From 2021 to 2023, Stalions arranged for people to attend games of future opponents and record their sidelines so Stalions could decipher their signals.

According to the NCAA, Stalions referred to the network of individuals that would record sidelines for him as the “KGB.”

The NCAA said in a report it uncovered 56 instances of off-campus, in-person scouting for 13 Wolverines opponents, though the report adds “the true scope and scale of the scheme — including the competitive advantage it conferred — will never be known due to individuals’ intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information.”

“You don’t put together a network of individuals called the KGB that records ‘dirty film’ where the costs is in the tens of thousands of dollars unless you intend to gain a substantial competitive advantage,” Norman Bay, the chief hearing officer for the panel in charge of the investigation, said during a press conference Friday.

Michigan won a national championship after the 2023 season, during which the investigation into Stalions was first announced. He resigned from the school in November of that year.

The Wolverines were also fined the equivalent of 10% of the football scholarships awarded this upcoming season, and were placed on probation for the next four years. The school also received a 25% reduction in recruiting visits this season.

Individuals disciplined as a result of the infractions include former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who currently coaches the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL, Stalions, former director of player personnel Denard Robinson, and current head coach Sherrone Moore.

One of the reasons for the significant penalties, the NCAA said in its report, included a lack of cooperation from the aforementioned people.

“Their conduct ranged from destroying relevant materials to providing false and misleading information during interviews,” reads the NCAA report.

Among the ways Stalions destroyed materials included throwing his phone in a pond.

Harbaugh, Stalions and Robinson all received show-cause penalties that will restrict them from all athletic-related activities for several years.

Harbaugh will be barred for 10 years beginning in August 2028 after the conclusion of a current show-cause penalty. Stalions received a two-year ban, while Robinson received a three-year ban.

Moore will serve a three-game suspension over the next two seasons. His two-year show-cause will not restrict him from coaching during that time period.

“I would hope that the takeaway is not that you can fail to cooperate and get away with it,” Bay said. “I would hope that the takeaway is that if you fail to cooperate, there could be really serious consequences.”