The Michigan Wolverines’ signal-stealing controversy is not one to stay buried for too long! Amid former Michigan and current Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh bearing the brunt with a one-year NCAA suspension, a four-year show-cause order and rising calls for the team to be “stripped off of their wins”, not everyone is convinced that the Wolves deserve the intense scrutiny. What if we say there is a different narrative to this branching grapevine? What if we tell you that every. single. team. ‘steals’ signs?

“Let’s not kid ourselves here. Like, I would say, 95% of the teams have 95% of team signals. So, it’s about how you protect, how you decipher, how you employ it…. So it was more of a protecting our own, right? So signaling second helps that,” Connor Stalions—the former University of Michigan staffer caught in the eye of the controversy—pointed out during a conversation with J.D. PicKell on March 27. Let’s be honest, it’s a cat-and-mouse chase, with teams waiting for the offense/defense to call their play. This is something that has been happening since the start of football. So why was Stalions or Michigan the anomaly?

Okay, there is a lot to unpack here, so buckle your seatbelts. First, let’s understand the actual rule Michigan “allegedly” broke. The NCAA Bylaw 11.6.1. The law directly prohibits “off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents (in the same season).” Now, why was Stalions caught right smack dab in the center of it?

Well, “The NCAA CONFIRMS in the NOA that Stalions’ family members and friends who helped him advance scout were working on behalf of Conner Stalions.” Last month, BuckeyeScoop shared this update on X. Digging deeper into this, you can find Nicole Auerbach’s original update stating, “Connor Stalions bought tickets at opposing stadiums for non-Michigan games…. Some tickets were under names of his family members.” The former coach had reportedly bought more than 30 tickets to 11 different Big Ten games from 2020 to 2023.

To back all of this, footage had also surfaced, reportedly showing a person sitting and recording a home team sideline on the same seat purchased by Stalions. Naturally, all the evidence pointed toward foul play, and Michigan promptly fired Connor Stalions.

But here is where things get a bit interesting. As we pointed out before, there could be a different narrative to this entire case: that being the fact that Michigan was just better at the alleged signal-stealing than its opponents. This was something Michigan alumni Mike Sainristil had mentioned. “I think the problem was he [Harbaugh] worked a lot harder at doing what everybody else was doing, so when he was having success doing it, they tried finding a way to make it seem like we’re cheating,” Sainristil had said. 

Top Comment by Todd sommers

They should lose their Natty, the program was completely defiant against the NCAA, it is one thing to stonewall an...more

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American Football Coaches Association executive director Todd Berry, on the other hand, had pointedly remarked, “But I will tell you this: Anybody that denies it and says, ‘Oh, nobody’s doing [signal stealing],’ that is ridiculous. That’s silly to even think that.”

And while you can argue that if Harbaugh was truly not guilty, why he would accept the 3-game suspension, and why Michigan would even drop their lawsuit, it still doesn’t add much clarity to the entire case. NCAA is still dabbling with the case and Sherrone Moore and Co. are making big strides to restore Michigan to its 2023 natty glory.

All in all, there is no definite answer to this entire shenanigan. It’s either “Michigan was guilty” or “Michigan was just better at signal-stealing” and no in between. And as much as OSU fans would want you to believe the former statement, Michigan fans will always keep the latter statement close to their heart.

But hey, this OSU-Michigan saga sparks another train of thought—one set in motion by Stalions himself during his conversation with PicKell. You see, Stalions pointed out an interesting gamble that we could potentially see unfold in the 2025 season.

Double rematch: OSU vs. Wolverines

“I will make a prediction that this will be the first year where they (OSU and Michigan) play each other more than once,” Stalions mentions. Well, what a way to add fuel to the already burning hatred between the schools. See, it’s not new that 2024 was a disaster for OSU. Yeah, they won the Natty, but that one loss to Michigan? That pretty much overshadowed their entire national championship conquest. At least, that is what we felt after going through most Buckeyes’ Reddit posts.

And honestly? It is understandable why it happened. When you are Ryan Day, and you have such an elite receiver and running room at your disposal along with Chip Kelly’s play calling, the odds of losing to a Michigan team relying on a walk-on QB and a wonky offensive production are pretty low.

But here we are. 13-10 packed with a massive flag-planting drama (which also spiraled out of control and resulted in a full-blown law being passed). However, 2025 paints an interesting scene. That single Bryce Underwood hiring changed the entire narrative of Moore’s Michigan future.

You have the No.1 QB of the 2025 class, so you CANNOT go wrong with this. Plus, Justice Haynes coming in at RB after his stint with Bama and Jordan Marshall being present leads to a solid pairing of an SEC talent with a top-100 recruit of the 2024 class.

On the receiver end, Moore managed to catch 2 medium-sized fishes: Donaven McCulley from Indiana and Anthony Simpson from UMass. Both WRs had an acceptable productive season, but only time will tell how they pair with Underwood’s arm and accuracy.

On the opposite side, Day still needs to ponder about OSU’s roster. See, the biggest problem for the Bucks is the loss of massive players to the NFL. Stars like Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson, Cody Simon, and Will Howard are all gone.

Now Julian Sayin could be QB’s heir, and he will find plenty of connection with Jeremiah Smith. This does leave Day and Kelly some wiggle room, but is it enough? And how can we forget the defensive blow that Penn State, out of all the teams, managed to deal to the Bucks?

OSU’s grand DC Jim Knowles is now running with the Nittany Lions. Not a fun situation. For now, even though every website on the internet has projected Michigan to lose against the Bucks, our advice would be to not hold your breath on that.

Things are going to get interesting.