As I've previously shared, a partial draft of the Notice of Allegations was shared with TCUN (and CMU) three weeks ago on or around Thursday, July 25th. In the days since, representatives from TCUN and the NCAA have engaged in at least cursory discussions of a negotiated settlement as it relates to the impermissible off-campus advanced scouting scheme orchestrated by former staffer Connor Stalions.
Discussions revolve(d) around a minimum acceptable framework from the NCAA's perspective, which includes partial vacations of the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons, a 2 year postseason ban, loss of recognition of the 2021-23 B1G titles and football championship", fines, scholarship reductions, probation, and significant penalties levied against current and former coaches and staffers.
As of today, contacts in DET media believe that a formal transmission of the complete NOA is "imminent." I had previously shared with you all that the full NOA might be delayed should settlement discussions trend in the right direction, with its delivery saved to use as a motivating tool in the event that negotiations stalled or ended. I am not sure what specifically may have changed, but signals are pointing to a formal delivery soon... quite possibly ahead of TCUN's opener against Fresno State.
The formal NOA is believed to include a detailed account of the scheme's operation and logistics, information from TCUN interns and other individuals who were paid to film games, evidence of multiple football staffers accessing the information, evidence of the scheme being funded by individuals connected to the athletic department, evidence of collusion with at least one CMU coach to get Stalions on their sideline, evidence that current and former staffers were aware of the scheme, and a point-by-point explanation of the advantage the scheme provided to the team.
As a reminder, NOAs are not public documents at time of delivery. Once received, TCUN and the associated individuals will have a 90 day window to respond, after which a hearing will be scheduled with the Committee on Infractions. While I do expect the allegations levied to be juicy enough to be leaked, I would not expect a full copy to to turn up in the public realm until after the COI's hearing.
"Imminent" is the word used by 2 different sources - both themselves sourced within the TCUN athletic dept. - so that's at least what they are expecting. I can't say if that means a particular number of days, but this shift in mood seemed to happen fairly quickly. Should TCUN suddenly become more amenable to negotiations, transmission of the NOA could again be delayed.
Also keep in mind that this NOA is expected to only cover the impermissible scouting scheme. There are additional investigations into the computer access allegations against former coach Matt Weiss, with the FBI and potentially FTC** now reading the NCAA in with updates. If the practice video / Catapult allegations prove to be true as well - and, again, sources inside the WHAC believe they are - those would either be under the umbrella of the Weiss investigation or a separate track of their own.
*(from an NCAA perspective, the CFP committee would have ultimate say)
**Ken Stickey is the only one reporting this as fact, but I've heard suggestions that support it.
