U of M Football Scandal

[401don]

Anyone have any strong opinions on this? It's hard to believe this guy Stalions acted completely alone and if he did who was bankrolling all these trips and tickets? Boosters? Meanwhile the senior coaches are naively getting all these plays and thinking this guy is a scouting genius? I feel sorry for the players. This is the most talented Wolverines team I can remember and this is going to cost them, the program and the school's reputation dearly.

[mikeg19]

It's hard to believe that he was the lone ranger so to speak and nobody knew of what was happening above his level. But Jimbo may have the old plausible deniability deal here.

The part I'm having trouble with here is this: if it was well known that Michigan was stealing signs, as all of a sudden every coach out there has known about it apparently but said nothing, then why wouldn't these teams under this suspicion simply change the signals prior to the UM game? Each team already uses several staffers on the sidelines to relay in the plays, with several using dummy signals and only 1 with the actual play. I'm sure during the course of the game or week to week those are all changing as well. I'm not saying they didn't do it, I'm not saying they shouldn't be punished if in fact they were doing so. But if this was going on as long as it allegedly has been, then why the hell did they lose to TCU if they knew the plays they were running? Why has UM throttled the past 2 teams it has played after this scandal broke?

Better yet, why is the NCAA as a whole not using the NFL wireless helmet technology to relay plays to the QB and Defensive captain in the huddle, thus eliminating this whole issue??? Don't say cost of the technology is prohibitive. If LSU can shell out $20K to bring in a 2nd string running back prospect with NIL $$$, certainly the schools/boosters can shell out the cash for the helmets.

[401don]

Better yet, why is the NCAA as a whole not using the NFL wireless helmet technology to relay plays to the QB and Defensive captain in the huddle, thus eliminating this whole issue??? Don't say cost of the technology is prohibitive. If LSU can shell out $20K to bring in a 2nd string running back prospect with NIL $$$, certainly the schools/boosters can shell out the cash for the helmets.

Supposedly the big schools have been clamoring for it for a few years but the smaller schools say it's too expensive. Even the smaller ones spend a lot on their programs so it's hard to believe it's that big of expense. This was the same reason given for the change in advance scouting rules which led to this scandal. I agree with your comments. It shouldn't be that big of deal but I think it's going to stick to both Harbaugh and the school.

[mikeg19]

It shouldn't be that big of deal but I think it's going to stick to both Harbaugh and the school.

Yahoo news reporting that the NCAA report found no link between signgate and Harbaugh. That kinda throws a wrench in the suspend Jim scenario. The timing of all this sucks because we are watching a very good team getting sucked into this narrative. Even if they go on to win the Big Ten Championship again and get into the playoff/win the Natty, there will be the asterisk on all this regardless of the final investigative outcome.

[401don]

Now it's been reported this guy listed Blake Corum as a partner in an LLC without Corum's knowledge. How many of these "low level staffers" does a college team have on the payroll? What is their job description and who did this guy report to? Lots of unanswered questions.

[Danny]

When Harbaugh knows that he wants Michigan Wolverine Football to win more National Championships and get more state district star champions high schoolers, they need to play like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. Even if Harbaugh tells his minions to cheat.

He will pay the price at the end.

Harbaugh wants to be legendary Bo Schembechler, but that is not going to happen in his lifetime. He needs to be Jim Harbaugh and play fair college football.

[GPCharles]

Why the rush to judgment? Reminds me of the Duke lacrosse scandal, where careers and lives were ruined and then the accuser admitted she was lying.

[401don]

Harbaugh agrees to the suspension, Michigan drops its lawsuit and the Big 10 stops any further investigation. If the Big 10 thought it went any further than Stalions they should continue the investigation. So either they don't or they just want it to go away. Now we wait to see what happens with the NCAA long after the season is over.

[Ray1936]

Shouldn't we all just agree that college football is pro football? Quit hiding all the payoffs.

[birwood]

The only thing wrong is Michigan got caught, and Stalions squealed under pressure. They all do it...even in baseball, if you recall a few years back.

[Lowell]

Shouldn't we all just agree that college football is pro football? Quit hiding all the payoffs.

So true and a sore point for me. Recently I got curious about head coach salaries and found that all Big Ten coaches are being paid at least $4 million with some around $10M. Many sub-coaches are also in seven figures. IMO no coach should be paid more than the average of a university's top ten percent of professors.

Only a handful of university sports programs make money leaving the universities, and by extension likely taxpayers in the case of state universities, on the hook.

Consider these numbers. These for were for the year prior to the pandemic when the losses were likely astronomical and no program made money. [University of Oregon got a huge donation from Nike that year]

[401don]

The only thing wrong is Michigan got caught, and Stalions squealed under pressure. They all do it...even in baseball, if you recall a few years back.

Stalions squealed under pressure? They had all kinds of video evidence, paper trails, etc. Not sure he even spoke to the Big 10 when forced to resign other than a public statement saying Harbaugh had no knowledge.

[401don]

Shouldn't we all just agree that college football is pro football? Quit hiding all the payoffs.

Not sure what your point is. You think illegal payoffs are permitted in the pros?