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As the wait continues for Michigan to receive its punishment from the NCAA for its sign-stealing scandal, Connor Stalions sat down with On3 for an hourlong interview that was published Friday afternoon.
In the interview, the former Michigan analyst who allegedly violated NCAA rules by orchestrating an in-person scouting operation did not directly address those allegations but claimed that “95% of teams have 95% of teams’ signals” and said that his job was more about protecting Michigan’s signals than actually stealing opponents’ signals – a job that he says came about because of how effectively other teams, including Ohio State, stole signals against the Wolverines.
“It started off with teams picking us apart in this cat-and-mouse signal game. And I would say, first of all, signals itself was like maybe 33% tops of what I did, right? I'm doing breakdowns of the defense, doing formation tendency stuff, prepping meetings for linebackers and all that, doing cutups and everything,” Stalions said. “As far as signals go, I would say maybe 95% of the value in it is protecting your own signals. And the way that you protect on defense – I didn't really work with the offense, right? – so with the defense, the way that you protect is kind of categorized in one of two different categories. So one, just call your play after they call theirs, right? That's the cat-and-mouse, like you wanna be the cat and signal second. Or signal at the same time as they do.
“So most of the time, when I was talking to (former defensive coordinator Mike) Macdonald or (former defensive coordinator Jesse) Minter, it was, you see like me in his ear, it's kind of like red light, green light. Like, ‘Hey, if I'm not talking, that means they haven't called their play.’ So you're taking a big risk if you call your play because they're gonna get our signal and they're gonna call the Cover 1 beater, the Cover 3 beater, whatever it is. ’Cause let's not kid ourselves here, I would say 95% of teams have 95% of teams’ signals. So, it's about how you protect, how you decipher, how you employ it. So yeah, it's more like a red light, green light cause we were getting taken advantage of. Ohio State was really abusing us in 2018 and 2019. I mean, every time we're in man, they're running mesh rail. Every time we're in zone, they're running the ball.”
In Stalions’ mind, what made the difference in The Game between 2018 and 2019 – when Ohio State won 62-39 and 56-27 – and 2021, when Michigan won 42-27, wasn’t that Michigan knew Ohio State’s signals but that Ohio State wasn’t able to steal Michigan’s defensive signals the way it had previously when Don Brown was the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator.
“I remember in 2021, the first year where Coach Macdonald's there and we have good chemistry of that red light, green light game, and he's just waiting. And they're waiting.
And we're just looking at each other, and our mind's like, ‘Delay of game’s on you, buddy, so you might wanna start calling your play.’ And you could tell that's what got them rattled, because they were so reliant on knowing your signal,” Stalions said. “And Ryan Day's a great coach. This is not a whatever pitch against him, but at that time in the recent history of The Game, 2018 and 2019, well, when you know they're gonna be in Cover 1 every play, or you know they're gonna be bringing pressure, whatever it is, I mean, of course, I would become a little bit reliant on that, too, like, ‘Yeah, sweet.’ And now, all of a sudden, you're getting stalemated with like, ‘Call your fricking play,’ and they're not, so then you just gotta call your play.
“So we're calling our plays at the same exact time. So it pretty much was like a stalemate, and they were definitely more uncomfortable than we were when both teams were signaling at the same time. And you might know what play they're gonna do, but you don't have that information in time to call your play based on that play. So that's why it's just so blown out of proportion with how much of an effect it has.”
Addressing a comment former Ohio State tight end Cade Stover made last September, when Stover insinuated that Michigan had to be stealing signs illegally because it knew a play Ohio State was running even though it had never run that play before, Stalions claimed that it wasn’t difficult to decipher that play because Ohio State used the same signaler all season.
“Ohio State never once changed their signaler, the live signaler, the whole season. And then when they played us, there was one play – I'm looking at the guy who's been live the whole game, so what am I gonna like, close my eyes, like not look? So I'm looking at him, and he signals the formation, which they never changed the formations, and then he goes, Y, delay,” Stalions said, gesturing with his hands to demonstrate the signals used. “Like, what am I gonna do with that information, keep it to myself? You just signaled the letter Y and delay of game sign, I think there's a 99.9% chance this is gonna be a Y delay screen, so I was yelling it, and we overdefended it. Because it's quiet when you're on defense in the Shoe, so we're all yelling, ‘Y delay! Y delay!’ Then they run Y delay, and (C.J.) Stroud turns around and the whole line is right there, so he goes and scrambles and gets a few yards. But that's like the one time that game where (Stalions knew) the play, and they got a first down. He scrambled for a first down on the one play that you're like, actually, you know exactly what it is.”
Asked by @LandryLocker about the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, Cade Stover said the Wolverines identified a TE screen play that Ohio State had never used in a game before.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) September 6, 2024
I went back and re-watched the 2022 game and found this play, which could be it. https://t.co/WCpciizN4h pic.twitter.com/aX0Q5xzm16
As for where things stand with Stalions now, he says his goal is still to one day become the head coach at Michigan. He says he’d be willing to go work for another college team in the meantime, as long as it’s not Ohio State or Michigan State, acknowledging it’s highly unlikely Ohio State would ever seek to hire him anyway.
“They'd be crazy to do that, because I think they would know that if I were actually at Ohio State, we would, I don't know, go 11-0 and then take a knee when we're down or something late in the game (against Michigan),” Stalions said. “Obviously, Ohio State would never even consider that, so this hypothetical, I'm putting it back to them ... I mean, I'll answer the phone if they call.”
Stalions’ chances of ever coaching again at the collegiate level could come down to whether he receives a show-cause penalty from the NCAA when the NCAA ultimately issues its ruling against Michigan. But while Stalions has not been on Michigan’s staff since 2023, his allegiance still lies with the Wolverines, who he’s picking to win the national championship this year.
He predicted that Michigan will beat Texas in the national championship game, but also forecasted that this will be the first year Michigan and Ohio State play each other twice in the same season, with the Buckeyes and Wolverines meeting a second time in either the Big Ten Championship Game or the College Football Playoff.
“I will make a prediction that this will be the first year where they play each other more than once,” Stalions said of Ohio State and Michigan. “It's gonna be Michigan, Oregon, and Ohio State (competing for the Big Ten title). You have Penn State, they're a dark horse, and I know they've been playing well the last few years, but longevity, you would imagine, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oregon. There's gonna be a year, I'm just banking it, this is gonna be the year that Michigan and Ohio State play back-to-back weeks, and if not, they'll meet in the playoffs.”
