Woah! Things are super hot in the Sherrone Moore’s hood. Now that the NCAA handed out a Notice of Allegations (NOA) to Michigan Wolverines, they have landed in a sticky spot. Amidst the challenging times, here Joel Klatt makes his grand entry. The FOX Sports lead college football game analyst does not find anything wrong in Moore and Co.’s championship run. He dismisses the allegations surrounding Connor Satlions and instead validates Jim Harbaugh’s successful stint. This morale boost would further help the Wolverines, who are all set to ‘fight’ the cheating allegations after getting stripped off by the critics.   

What made Stalions become the “most hated man in college football” that left Moore’s program with a permanent stain? Going by the investigated reports, he joined Michigan as an off-field analyst in 2022. On October 23, Stalions was accused of stealing opposing teams’ signals. He had allegedly purchased tickets to 35 games between 2021 and 2023. With this operation, the staffer got a clear view of the opposite sideline and assigned three individuals to video record the sidelines. Now what does Klatt feel about the mishap? Instead of stripping off the Wolverines, Klatt showed his support to Michigan when headed by Harbaugh, “The National Championship in 2023 is not even close to tainted. Not even close. It’s not even close to an asterisk, not even close.”

And why does he feel so? First things first, the analyst pointed out how when the alleged sign-stealing incident happened, the Wolverines already “were blowing people out.” The Stalions’ incident aftermath did not have any impact on the program. Instead, they got better by beating Michigan State 49-0. There was no scope for sign stealing against Penn State and Ohio State in the playoffs since by then Stalions had been already suspended.

But these calculations did not stop critics like FOX Sports analyst Dan Beyer from claiming, “It is amazing. Look Michigan national champs. They had the cheat codes. The Big 10 wimped out.” The Connor Stalions saga just got unearthed all over again. All thanks to the NCAA! Moore and Co. now have chosen to fight the battle. 

First-year HC Sherrone Moore navigates legal turbulence

Moore’s Wolverines received the NOA from the NCAA on August 25, Sunday. Even though Stalions’ alleged sign-stealing incident took place when Jim Harbaugh held the reins, the first-year HC Moore got caught in the legal woes. An early draft hinted that the new HC could face suspension and be prone to giving out a hefty amount as a penalty if he fails to show the cause behind allegedly deleting a 52 text message thread with Stalions back when the incident took place.

However, if you think that the Wolverines got scared, then you are mistaken. Moore’s athletic director Warde Manuel, in an interview with The Michigan Insider, swore to battle the claims with heads held high, “First of all, we’re going to fight when we need to fight.” While fans are happy with the gutsy flair of their favorite program, they are left surprised by the NCAA’s eerie timing sense.

The Connor Stalions controversy has been enticing enough for Netflix to include the episode in their documentary Sign Stealer. The release date had been set for August 27, Tuesday. Two days prior to that, the NCAA dropped the bomb. Now, will Sherrone Moore manage to mop up the mess and make his program shine? Let your opinions pour in!