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The NCAA has handed the Michigan football program hefty fines and suspensions for their sign-stealing scandal.
Michigan will receive a fine that is expected to be more than $20 million, including the loss of postseason football revenue for the next two seasons, according to ESPN’s report.
Michigan’s head coach, Sherrone Moore, will also have a game added to his already-existing self-imposed two-game suspension that he will serve this upcoming season.
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Head coach Sherrone Moore of the Michigan Wolverines watches warm-ups before the college football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium on November 9, 2024, in Bloomington, IN. (Getty Images)
“Over the course of three seasons, the Michigan football program committed violations involving an off-campus, in-person scouting scheme, impermissible recruiting inducements and communications, head coach responsibility rules, individuals’ failure to cooperate and Michigan’s failure to monitor, according to a decision released by a Division I Committee on Infractions panel,” The NCAA said in a press release.
The NCAA said that the majority of violations in this case stem from former Michigan football staff member Connor Stalions’ impermissible scouting schemes in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons.
Stalions arranged for interns and other staff members to do off-campus, in-person scouting for future opponents. Those sent on the trip filmed and recorded their upcoming opponents’ signs, which Stalions then deciphered.
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Michigan coach Sherrone Moore walks off the field after his team’s 31-12 loss to Texas at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (IMAGN)
“In total, 56 instances of off-campus, in-person scouting of 13 future regular-season opponents occurred across 52 contests. Stalions’ conduct resulted in a collective Level I violation of the impermissible scouting rule that expressly prohibits off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents,” The NCAA said.
Stalions and other individuals deliberately destroyed and withheld information regarding the investigation. The panel said that the “true scope and scale of the scheme” will never be known because of the destruction of evidence.
The NCAA also said that former head coach Jim Harbaugh, then assistant coach and now current head coach Moore, and former director of player personnel Denard Robinson all failed to meet the membership’s expectation of cooperation.
“Their conduct ranged from destroying relevant materials to providing false and misleading information during interviews — including Stalions instructing an intern to ‘clear out’ emails, photos, texts and videos related to the scouting scheme,” the NCAA said.
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Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline beside off-field analyst Connor Stalions, right, during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in 2022. (IMAGN)
Below are the penalties the NCAA doled out:
“The prescribed penalties for the parties who contested their violations in this case are as follows:
- Four years of probation.
- Financial penalties:$50,000 fine, plus 10% of the budget for the football program.A fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing associated with the 2025 and 2026 football seasons.A fine equivalent to the cost of 10% of the scholarships awarded in Michigan’s football program for the 2025-26 academic year.
- $50,000 fine, plus 10% of the budget for the football program.
- A fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing associated with the 2025 and 2026 football seasons.
- A fine equivalent to the cost of 10% of the scholarships awarded in Michigan’s football program for the 2025-26 academic year.
- A 25% reduction in football official visits during the 2025-26 season.
- A 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications in the football program during the probation period.
- Connor Stalions:An eight-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
- An eight-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
- Jim Harbaugh:A 10-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period, which will begin on Aug. 7, 2028, at the conclusion of his four-year show-cause order from a previous case.
- A 10-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period, which will begin on Aug. 7, 2028, at the conclusion of his four-year show-cause order from a previous case.
- Denard Robinson:A three-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
- A three-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
- Sherrone Moore:A two-year show-cause order, during which he is suspended from a total of three games. Michigan self-imposed a two-game suspension for Moore during the upcoming 2025-26 football season. The panel determined that a suspension for one additional game was appropriate. Therefore, Moore also will be suspended for the first game of the 2026-27 season. Apart from the three-game suspension, Moore is not prohibited from engaging in coaching or other athletically related activities during the show-cause period,” the NCAA said.
- A two-year show-cause order, during which he is suspended from a total of three games. Michigan self-imposed a two-game suspension for Moore during the upcoming 2025-26 football season. The panel determined that a suspension for one additional game was appropriate. Therefore, Moore also will be suspended for the first game of the 2026-27 season. Apart from the three-game suspension, Moore is not prohibited from engaging in coaching or other athletically related activities during the show-cause period,” the NCAA said.
A show-cause order deems that any school that wants to hire a person must show cause to the Committee on Infractions that it must accept the restrictions tied to the individual.
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