Michigan Friday: The Deep Abyss of BS

When Jimmy got to Michigan one of the first things, he did was bring in valuable staff members to help run his football program.  These resources are not officially on-field coaches but do things like scout opponents, prepare nutritional menus, book travel, academic help, help with game planning, etc.   Yes, some are former coaches and some of these resources have gone on to head coaching jobs.  Biff Poggi is a great example of that.  

This is very common place at any big college program.  Alabama for the longest time was doing it better than anyone and was winning a ton of football games.   Jimmy used that model.  

Sign stealing is also very common at every level of football including College Football.  The headline around this situation is Sign Stealing which is not an NCAA violation.  The alleged violation is sending a low-level staff member to opponents' games.  This is the below staffer that has been identified by Yahoo.  I will not state his name for his protection as he has already closed down his social media. 

Per Yahoo: At various points, ------ would make a signal: point to his shoulder, gesture to the ground, tap his head. He was in constant communication with the full-time assistants around him, whispering to them as the opposing offense broke the huddle.

“He spearheads the operation,” one Big Ten school coach told Yahoo Sports in an interview Thursday. “I once told (------), ‘We know what kind of sh** you are doing and it’s f***** up.’”

Further in the story:

Ohio State staff members knew of the issue ahead of their game against the Wolverines last season. The staff “changed things up” ahead of the game to combat the signaling issue, one support member told Yahoo.

“We heard they had a guy pick plays pretty good and had all this information from not your typical ways of getting the signals,” the staff member said. “We get into the game and it’s the second quarter. I see him across the field and he’s checking his 11x17 sheet.”

One Big Ten school coach said Michigan used “backdoor” methods to obtain signage information. Word had spread enough that one Big Ten school feared Michigan staff members were in attendance at one of their games earlier in the season capturing signals.

A few weeks later, in the game against the Wolverines, that same team called the game mostly using wristbands. However, some plays were signaled in. On those plays, staff members spotted ------ either signaling into the game or gesturing to another assistant.

“As soon as we flashed something, he knew it right away,” one coach said. “You go through the film and you start seeing a trend of certain coverages versus run and pass. They’re getting into the best looks you can get into.”

----

Am I missing something? How can you be on the sideline at the Michigan game predicting opponents plays and at the same time tracking and filming plays at another game?

I heard this morning on ESPN that this staffer had his laptop turned over to the NCAA.  The above anonymous coaches sound like whinners that Michigan is doing something better than they are.  Again, sign stealing is not against the rules and EVERY team tries to do it.  

This will not be hard to prove if Michigan did send a staffer to games.  There will be expense reports to prove they were there. I don't know how buying a ticket to a football game is breaking the rules, but it's the NCAA Clown Show.  If the staffer used a recording device, then I believe Michigan has a problem.   If the staffer did not attend opponents' games and got this intel from watching TV and tape, then this is a bunch of whining coaches that are getting beat at every level of the game.   Believe me, every coach believes every opponent is stealing signals and all of them are super paranoid.   OSU has levied the same complaint against Clemson during the CFP. 

It also sounds like these teams knew Michigan was good at this and changed their signals and used wrist bands and still got rolled.  What are we talking about?

Lastly, Big Ten Football offenses are not that complex and we all could sit on our coach and call 70% of the plays.  I remember USC rolling Michigan in a Rose Bowl many years ago and the players said, we knew what they were running before they ran it.   

Memo to The Clown Show: Bill Self and Cam Newton's dad continues to laugh at you.  Adjust your priorities, work on NIL, and try to find a way to put some respect back on your name.  The power in this game is with ESPN, CBS, NBC, and ABC your reign is over.  

Update: Michigan has suspended the staffer Connor Stalions who is a former Captain of the Marine Corps and a graduate of the Naval Academy.   Connor is accused of running an elaborate scouting system.  He is suspended with pay until the investigation is complete. 

Couple thoughts, don't love this move by Warde as it looks guilty as hell.  The NCAA is clearly not patriotic and lastly, this now allows him to attend OSU/PSU this weekend 😀

This story doesn't seem to stop.