- The NCAA imposed sanctions on the University of Michigan football program for a sign-stealing scandal.
- Former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions received an eight-year show-cause order.
- Stalions was found to have orchestrated illegal scouting of opponents.
- Head coach Sherrone Moore received a one-game suspension on top of a two-game self-imposed suspension, and former coach Jim Harbaugh received a 10-year show cause.
- The sanctions include fines and a percentage of the program’s budget.
Decision day has come and gone for Connor Stalions and the Michigan football program.
On Friday, the NCAA handed out a lengthy list of punishments and fines to Michigan following its sign-stealing scandal that surfaced during its 2023 national championship season.
The lengthy list of punishments handed down by the NCAA included a $50,000 fine, plus 10% of Michigan’s football program budget, a two-year show cause order and a one-game suspension for head coach Sherrone Moore in the 2026 season and an eight-year show cause order for Stalions. Former Michigan and now Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was additionally given a 10-year show cause by the NCAA.
The news comes just about two years after Stalions, a then off-field analyst on Harbaugh’s staff, was reported to be standing on the sidelines of a Central Michigan game in 2023 disguised in Chippewas gear and allegedly wearing Meta glasses for recording in a game against Michigan State. In its report on Friday, the NCAA mentioned that through its report, it was able to confirm that he was on the Central Michigan sideline. It went onto say that Stalions was there to decipher signs from the Spartans, who were playing Central Michigan, and to help a Central Michigan staffer out with play-calling.
Stalions has been out of college football since he resigned from the Wolverines program in October of 2023. He has since coached in the high school ranks in the Detroit area, as he served as the acting football head coach at Detroit Mumford High School in September of 2024 and then was ‘around’ the Belleville High School program, the same one that produced now Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, in November of 2024.
Here’s what to know on how Friday’s unveiling of the NCAA’s punishments towards Michigan impacts Stalions fallout:
Connor Stalions-Michigan NCAA punishments
In the NCAA’s announcement on Friday, the governing body’s Committee on Infractions handed Stalions an eight-year show-cause order for spearheading Michigan’s sign-stealing case from the 2023 college football season. Stalions’ show-cause is effective immediately from August 15, 2025, through August 14, 2033.
Connor Stalions fallout from Michigan football sign-stealing scandal
The fallout for Stalions from the sign-stealing case continues to be detrimental for the former Michigan analyst.
By getting hit with a show-cause, it essentially means that if a college football program were to hire Stalions for a position and could show that he could follow rules and guidelines, he would still be suspended for the entirety of his first season with that program. The show-cause is essentially a job suspension from athletically related activities for a set period by the NCAA and its Committee on Infractions.
In the report, Stalions was found to have arranged the illegal scouting of at least 13 Michigan future opponents on at least 58 occasions between 2021 and 2023. He resigned in October of 2023 amid the initial reports and allegations of the scouting and sign-stealing scheme.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
