In the Michigan sign-stealing case, the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced fines, stating that there was substantial proof of an illegal scouting operation that gave the Wolverines a competitive edge.
The majority of the sanctions are monetary in nature, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, or they involve former employees and trainers. However, the Wolverines will not forfeit any scholarships or give up any wins, including the 2023 national championship.
In addition to the four-year show-cause and one-year suspension he received last year for infractions pertaining to inappropriate recruiting during the 2020–21 COVID dormant period, former head coach Jim Harbaugh has been hit with a 10-year show-cause punishment. If Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL, decided to accept a college position between now and August 2038, when he would be 74 years old, he would have to appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
Conor Stalions, the former offensive analyst for Michigan who planned and executed the sign-stealing plot, received an eight-year show-cause sentence. At Belleville (Mich.) High School, the alma mater of current 5-star Wolverines freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, Stalions most recently served as offensive coordinator.
Sherrone Moore, the current head coach of Michigan, who served as the Wolverines’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach during the scheme, was given a two-year show-cause order and will be punished for three games in total. He will miss the 2026 opener against Western Michigan as well as the 2025 games against Central Michigan and Nebraska (Weeks 3 and 4).
The institution will lose two years of postseason revenue sharing (probably more than $20 million), be put on four years of probation, and pay a fine of $50,000 plus 10% of the football program’s budget, which was over $230 million in 2024. There will also be fewer recruiting calls and official visits to Michigan’s football program.
Denard Robinson, a former employee of Michigan, was also given a four-year show-cause sentence for recruiting infractions. After serving as the Wolverines’ assistant director of player personnel for three years, Robinson is no longer involved in football.
Despite being found to have engaged in recruiting infractions, two former assistant coaches, Steve Clinkscale and Jesse Minter, were exempt from show-cause sanctions following their cooperation with NCAA investigators. Both Minter and Clinkscale are currently employed by Harbaugh’s Chargers.
During the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons, Stalions was discovered to have planned what the NCAA referred to as an illegal scouting operation in order to obtain sideline access or sit in the stands and intercept signals from potential Wolverines opponents. In violation of NCAA regulations, soldiers or representatives whose access he had obtained would use smartphones to record team signals on video in the aim of decoding them for use against Michigan.
It was discovered that Stalions had worn a visitor’s credential while on the Central Michigan sidelines for a game against Michigan State on September 1, 2023, prior to the NCAA investigation. In 2023, Michigan defeated the Spartans 49-0, but they did not play Central Michigan.
The NCAA claims that 13 potential regular-season opponents and 52 games were involved in the illicit scouting/sign-stealing scheme. But before the NCAA could obtain it, the parties involved destroyed a large portion of the evidence.
The NCAA claims that because of people’s deliberate destruction and withholding of materials and information, the full extent and magnitude of the program, including the competitive advantage it granted, will never be known. Their actual presence at the game effectively provided them front-row seats to a crucial component of the opposition’s offensive and defensive strategy, regardless of whether it was Stalions or someone acting on his behalf.
The NCAA claims that Stalions, Harbaugh, Moore, and Robinson all fell short of the [Committee on Infractions] expectations of collaboration. After initially claiming he removed it to free up storage space on his phone, Moore later acknowledged that he purposefully erased a long text message exchange between himself and Stalions.
In addition to ordering an intern to delete emails, pictures, texts, and videos connected to the sign-stealing operation, Stalions told the NCAA that he threw his phone into a pond, destroying any proof of the conspiracy. In violation of NCAA regulations, he also made parts of the ongoing inquiry public.
According to the NCAA study, Stalions’ many and persistent refusals to cooperate rank among the worst the COI has ever witnessed.
By preventing the school’s rules compliance staff from carrying out their duties effectively, Michigan was also accused of failing to oversee its football program. According to the NCAA, Harbaugh and his staff instead chastised, fired, and ignored them.
According to the report, coaches and personnel disregarded NCAA regulations because Harbaugh did not promote or enforce a culture of compliance throughout his tenure and his program had a tense relationship with Michigan’s compliance office.
During the Wolverines’ journey to the 2023 national championship, Harbaugh received two suspensions: one from the school for recruiting violations related to COVID-19 and another from the Big Ten for stealing signs. He has denied knowledge of the unlawful scouting operation and his involvement in it on multiple occasions.
The NCAA decided not to impose a multi-year postseason ban in this instance, although acknowledging that Michigan, Harbaugh, and Moore all came under repeat violator timeframes and that the number of Level I Aggravated penalties were within those limitations. It also appears that revoking victories or championships was not an option because the issue did not affect player eligibility.
According to the findings, the panel concluded that a postseason ban would unjustly punish student-athletes for the conduct of coaches and staff who are no longer connected to the Michigan football program. Therefore, rather than imposing a two-year postseason suspension, the tribunal decided that an offsetting financial penalty would be a more suitable punishment.
In addition, the NCAA stated that it did not deprive the Wolverines of any scholarships because, following the House v. NCAA settlement, college athletics had moved from a scholarship basis to a roster spot model. Therefore, it decided that general pecuniary sanctions were more appropriate in this instance.
During the spring and summer of 2023, it was discovered that Clinkscale and Robinson had given a prospect limited inducements, while Clinkscale had given two other recruits extra inducements. Prior to the allowed recruiting date, Minter and former assistant coach Chris Partridge—who was fired in November 2023 and currently plays for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks—were discovered to have exchanged 100 text messages to another prospect.
Robinson received a show-cause penalty because he failed to attend the hearing and never replied to the NCAA’s notice of accusations.
