The NCAA has formally issued its Notice of Allegations to Michigan.
Both Michigan and the NCAA confirmed Sunday that the Wolverines had received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA concerning its sign-stealing scandal, giving Michigan 90 days to respond before the case heads to the Committee on Infractions.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the formal Notice of Allegations is “mostly unchanged” from the draft notice obtained by ESPN earlier this month, which indicated that Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore and former Michigan staffers Jim Harbaugh, Chris Partridge, Denard Robinson and Connor Stalions – the architect of Michigan’s impermissible in-person scouting operation – were all accused of committing Level I violations. Former Michigan assistants Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale were also accused of recruiting violations unrelated to Stalions.
Institutionally, Michigan faces a Level I violation for its “pattern of noncompliance within the football program” and efforts to hinder or thwart the NCAA's investigation, per the NOA draft obtained by ESPN. The draft stated that Moore – the only individual still with the program that has been accused of violating rules individually – could face a suspension and show-cause penalty for deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions on the same day in October 2023 that Stalions was initially revealed by media reports to be the leader of Michigan’s sign-stealing scheme.
Asked about the allegations earlier this month, Moore – who was the Wolverines' offensive coordinator at the time but became Michigan’s head coach in January after Harbaugh became the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers – said Michigan is “cooperating with the NCAA fully” and that he is looking forward to the text messages being released.
Given that Michigan has three months to respond, it’s unlikely any sanctions will be issued against Michigan until 2025. After Michigan issues its response, a hearing will be scheduled with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions to determine penalties unless Michigan agrees to accept penalties without a hearing.
According to NBC Sports’ Nicole Auerbach, Minter and Robinson are working with the NCAA on a negotiated resolution but the rest of the case will proceed to a hearing. Auerbach also reported that Moore and Harbaugh could both be considered repeat violators now that the NCAA’s previous investigation into Michigan for recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic – which resulted in Harbaugh receiving a four-year show-cause order along with three years of probation, a fine and recruiting restrictions for Michigan – has been resolved.
One other difference: Michigan's earlier case involving COVID-era recruiting violations has now been resolved by the NCAA. So, Harbaugh/Moore can be considered repeat violators.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 25, 2024
While sign stealing in itself is not a violation of NCAA rules, Michigan allegedly violated NCAA rules by sending scouts to opponents’ games to film opponents’ signals, both actions that are prohibited by the NCAA. The NCAA told the Big Ten in November it “knew and could prove” that Stalions “coordinated a vast off-campus, in-person advance scouting scheme involving a network of individuals” and that “he and others acting at his direction video recorded signs used by future university opponents while attending the opponents’ games in person.”
In a statement provided to The Athletic on Sunday, Stalions’ attorneys Brad Beckworth and Nathan Hall claimed “Connor is a scapegoat in the NCAA’s ongoing quest to show that it has a purpose in today’s sports world.”
“The NOA says Connor’s friends and family sent him film from games they attended with tickets Connor purchased. But there is no rule against that,” Stalions’ lawyers wrote, adding that the “only ‘scouting’ that took place in this case happened on Michigan’s campus from behind Connor’s computer.”
The NCAA issued its Notice of Allegations just two days before the scheduled release of “Untold: Sign Stealer,” a Netflix documentary about Michigan’s sign-stealing operation that will include Stalions’ first public comments on the situation.
