The Stalions 'didn't get any signals through in-person scouting'

Former Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions told NCAA investigators that he never participated in advance scouting in person and did not purchase tickets for others to attend games of the Wolverines' future opponents to record their signals.

Stalions made the claims in April during a video interview with NCAA investigators, segments of which were included in the new Netflix documentary “Sign Stealer,” which was released Tuesday.

Stalions, a lifelong Michigan fan and retired U.S. Marine Corps captain hired as an analyst in 2022, is the alleged ringleader of a vast sign-stealing operation in which he is accused of sending people to scout the Wolverines’ future opponents, including recording play signals from the teams’ sidelines. Last week, the NCAA sent Michigan a notice of allegations regarding prohibited off-campus sign-stealing. According to the documentary, Stalions faces a three-year ban from coaching, which he intends to contest.

When an NCAA investigator asks Stalions whether any Michigan coaches or staff members were aware of the alleged scheme to obtain signals from opponents through in-person advanced scouting, which is prohibited by the NCAA, he responds, “I did not obtain signals through in-person scouting.”

An NCAA investigator asks Stalions if he ever ordered anyone to attend a game in which Michigan was not competing. “No, I don't recall ordering anyone to attend a game,” he replies.

Records provided to ESPN by several Big Ten schools (and some outside the conference) showed that Stalions purchased tickets to multiple games involving future opponents. Stalions told NCAA investigators that he frequently bought tickets to multiple games and would resell the tickets or give them away to friends. Michigan suspended Stalions with pay on Oct. 20, pending the outcome of its internal investigation. He resigned on Nov. 3.

In the documentary, Stalions tells the NCAA that “there are some people who attended games using tickets that I purchased and recorded portions of those games.” Stalions tells investigators he did not remember who recorded the games, but that he would receive footage of some of them. Zachary Couzens, a friend of Stalions and fellow Navy veteran, says in the documentary that he used Stalions’ tickets for several games, but that there is “no evidence” that he took video or photographs.

“Some friends have sent me movies,” says Stalions. “It's like when your aunt gives you a Christmas present that you already have. You're not going to be rude and say, 'Oh, I already have this. I don't need that.' It's like, 'Oh, thanks, I appreciate it.' They feel like they're helping when I already have the cues, I've already memorized them.”

An NCAA investigator asks Stalions if he was the man who was on the Central Michigan bench area — wearing team-issued gear and sunglasses — for the 2023 season opener at Michigan State, which took place the night before Michigan’s opener in Ann Arbor. Stalions responds that he did not recall attending a specific game, though Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy says in the documentary that Stalions admitted to being on the Central Michigan bench. Central Michigan has told ESPN that it remains cooperative with the NCAA’s ongoing investigation.

Stalions attorney Brad Beckworth of Austin, Texas, intervenes during the NCAA interview, claiming that the Stalions' personal information was illegally breached, leading to the NCAA investigation into Michigan.

“If that's true, it's certainly a violation of civil law and perhaps a felony,” Beckworth tells NCAA investigators. “And if it's true that it came from someone associated or connected to Ohio State University — and we believe it was — that's where, if I wanted to try to do the right thing, I would perhaps focus.” When an NCAA investigator declines to provide how the information about Stalions was obtained, Beckworth ends the interview.

In the documentary, Stalions says he realized Michigan was at the bottom of an “intelligence operations totem pole” shortly after joining the staff as a volunteer in 2018. Late in the 2018 season, Stalions got a call from someone at another school who introduced him to an “underground community of college football analysts” who trade elements of schemes and game plans to learn certain signals.

“You don't know you're in last place if you don't have someone who is focused on that,” says Stalions. “Based on my experience, 80 to 90 percent of teams have one of those intelligence operations staff members.”

Stalions said he was able to decipher opponents' signals by watching tapes, getting information from other staff members who were part of the network and memorizing thousands of signals.

“First of all, I've never done pre-scouting,” he said in the documentary. “Secondly, if it was signals, I got them the same way every other team does, by watching TV copies and talking to other experts from other teams. What set me apart was the way I organized that information and processed it on game day.”

Stalions now works as a volunteer defensive coordinator at Mumford High School in Detroit.

Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who now coaches the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers, has denied any knowledge of the sign-stealing scheme.

ESPN reported on Aug. 4 that new Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore is one of seven members of the 2023 football program accused of violating NCAA rules in a draft NCAA notice of allegations.

The NCAA’s notice of allegations indicated Moore could face a show-cause penalty and possibly a suspension for allegedly deleting a 52-text message thread with Stalions in October 2023 — the same day media reports revealed Stalions was leading an effort to capture play-calling signals from future opponents.

The draft notes that the texts were later recovered through “device imaging” and that Moore “subsequently presented them to law enforcement personnel.” Moore, who is charged with committing a Level II violation, said earlier this month that he looks forward to the release of the texts.

Harbaugh, former assistant coach Chris Partridge, former staff member Denard Robinson and the Stalions are also accused of committing Level I violations, the most serious category in the NCAA’s enforcement process. Michigan also faces one Level I violation charge, according to the draft, due to its “pattern of noncompliance within the football program” and institutional efforts to hinder or thwart the NCAA’s investigation. Former assistant coaches Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale are also accused of recruiting violations unrelated to the Stalions in the draft.

The Big Ten Conference suspended Harbaugh from coaching its team for the final three games of the 2023 regular season because it said his program violated the league's sportsmanship policy.