ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – “We impose this disciplinary action even though the Conference has not yet received any information indicating that Head Football Coach Harbaugh was aware of the impermissible nature of the sign-stealing scheme.”

These words were written by Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti to the University of Michigan (U-M) on November 10th, in a letter that was emailed to them, giving them notice of disciplinary action against the university because of their “belief” that the university violated the Sportsmanship Policy.

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Petitti says that the policy was violated due to a university football staff member engaging in an organized, extensive, years-long in-person advance scouting scheme – violations that were “pervasive” and “systemic.” The Big Ten Conference letter said that the goal of the scheme was to gain an unfair advantage by stealing the signs of teams that the University’s football team was due to play later in the season.

The penalty imposed by the Big Ten Conference on the university, after looking at information that was gained through an ongoing investigation by the NCAA, is to have them compete without their head football coach for the games remaining in the 2023 regular-season. This disciplinary action does not preclude the university or its football team from having its head football coach attend practices or other football team activities other than the game activities to which it applies. The first game under this penalty that was sans-Harbaugh was played on Saturday against Penn State and resulted in a 24-15 Michigan victory. The university had tried to get a temporary restraining order against the coach’s suspension in time for Harbaugh to coach Saturday’s game, but it did not come to pass.

On November 2, Coach Harbaugh made a statement about the sign stealing accusations by saying,” I want to make it clear that I, and my staff, will fully cooperate with the investigation into this matter. I do not have any knowledge or information regarding the University of Michigan football program illegally stealing signals, nor have I directed any staff member or others to participate in an off-campus scouting assignment. I have no awareness of anyone on our staff having done that or having directed that action.”

The person who is accused of doing the sign stealing is former U-M staffer, Connor Stalions, who has been described by the Detroit Free Press as a retired U.S. Marine Corps captain, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and an off-field analyst for Michigan who was hired in May of 2022 after volunteering for several seasons.

The “extensive information” obtained by the Big Ten Conference and collected by the NCAA against Stalions includes what the conference calls “offense action.” They allege that Stalions purchased tickets for off campus football games involving future university opponents and had forwarded tickets to a network of individuals, names who showed up in spreadsheets that were obtained by the NCAA during the course of the investigation. The spreadsheets have information including names of various individuals assigned to attend past and future football games involving the University’s scheduled football opponents and a translation of signs and signals for specific team formations and plays.

Petitti alleges that Stalions was in close communications with at least some of the coaches on the University’s football team and points to photos and videos showing Stalions communicating with U-M coaches during games including defensive coordinators Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter while “intently watching what was happening on the field” or sideline.

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Stalions had been suspended with pay by the university on October 20th, but sources now say that he resigned his position.

In defense of banning Harbaugh from the games, Commissioner Petitti says in their letter, “This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh. It is a sanction against the University that, under the extraordinary circumstances presented by this offensive conduct, best fits the violation because: (1) it preserves the ability of the University’s football student-athletes to continue competing; and (2) it recognizes that the Head Coach embodies the University for purposes of its football program.”

However, because of the alleged actions of Stalions, the Big Ten Conference chose to keep Harbaugh away from the team as the punishment, regardless of whether or not Harbaugh was implicated in the sign stealing scheme.

The Big Ten Conference said in their letter to the U-M that the Sportsmanship Policy gives the Commissioner exclusive authority to determine whether an offensive action has been committed and in making that determination, the Commissioner may consider evidence deemed relevant provided by any source and shall, as expeditiously as possible, determine whether disciplinary action should be imposed, and if so, what it should be. They also state that the NCAA rules say that head coaches are responsible for “the actions of all institutional staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the head coach.” In their letter, they gave the university three days to respond although they were ultimately granted four days.

After receiving the letter alleging the sign stealing scheme from the Big Ten Conference, both the University and Harbaugh’s attorneys responded by saying that the University was only shared “scant” evidence, had very little time to respond to the accusations, and complained that the Big Ten Conference didn’t investigate the allegations themselves or follow their own rules.

The university said that having the discipline be based on an “unadjudicated rule violation” is in breach of the Big Ten Conference Handbook that includes procedural protections for adjudicating alleged violations of NCAA and Conference rules. They allege the Commissioner is making an “end-run around the protections which grants him unilateral authority to punish all rules violations without due process.” They continue to say that “any decision to impose punishment before the NCAA investigation and remedial action has concluded would flout these aspects of Conference policy and the values and protections they enshrine.”

The procedural protections granted to the universities includes an appeal process that guarantees documentary submissions, a hearing and other protections to determine whether violations have been committed. U-M alleges that the Conference is ignoring the protections and bootstrapping unproven rules violations through the Sportsmanship Policy. They also point to the Sportsmanship policy only authorizing the Conference to impose disciplinary action on two specifically delineated categories of respondents: (1) a person associated with an institution “if that person is found to have committed an offensive action” and (2) the “institution.”

Coach Harbaugh does not fit in either of those two categories which most likely explains the comment in the email from Big Ten Conference Commissioner Petitti when he said, “This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh. It is a sanction against the University” – even though the sanction against the University is against Harbaugh.

Harbaugh’s attorneys conclude in their letter to the Big Ten Conference, “The Big Ten rules do not permit the Commissioner to impose liability on Coach Harbaugh after being informed by the NCAA that it has found no evidence that he was in any way implicated in Connor Stalion’s alleged misconduct.”

U of M President Dr. Santa Ono also issued a statement regarding the disciplinary actions taken by the Big Ten Conference, “Like all members of the Big Ten Conference, we are entitled to a fair, deliberate and thoughtful process to determine the full set of facts before a judgment is rendered.” He said the actions by Commissioner Petitti “disregards the Conference’s own handbook, violates basic tenets of due process, and sets an untenable precedent of assessing penalties before an investigation has been completed. We are dismayed at the Commissioner’s rush to judgment when there is an ongoing NCAA investigation – one in which we are fully cooperating.”