Weiss Fired
January 20th, 2023 at 1:52 PM ^
Oh, wow!
January 20th, 2023 at 2:00 PM ^
Conduct unbecoming the university at Ann Arbor .
January 20th, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
Which is usually considered perfectly "becoming" conduct anywhere else.
MW sends some emails to recruits during the December signing period using JH's account probably because JH hates that stuff... normal practice in every program, but here it'll get you canned.
EDIT: see caveat I posed below under stephenrjking's reply
January 20th, 2023 at 2:35 PM ^
You have any kind of source for this or did you pull it out rectally?
January 20th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
Yes for the first, no to the second.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
Rectally-sourced information is the best information.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
Maybe he heard it from Jake Butt
January 20th, 2023 at 4:26 PM ^
If you heard a rumor from Jake Butt would it be considered a fart?
January 20th, 2023 at 11:01 PM ^
Scuttle-Butt
January 20th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
Your sourcing has appeared to be quite good. You were on target with Harbaugh's NFL dally last year. So I have no reason to think you are just making this up.
I will add, as a cautious counter-balance, that it's possible you are stating real source information that comes from the perspective of someone who is unhappy with this, and may not give the complete story. But, this is just general caution about this kind of thing (I've heard a *lot* of stories that sound very particular, that change in color somewhat after one hears the other side) rather than a suggestion that you are wrong or inaccurate.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
It's funny I signed back on just to add the following edit to my post:
CAVEAT: THE FOLLOWING COMES FROM SOMEONE VERY WELL PLACED AND IN A POSITION TO KNOW BUT ALSO WHO MAY HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN SPINNING THE STORY IN A PRO MATT WEISS DIRECTION
So yeah, this is a situation where we have a narrator who knows exactly what happened but may not be reliable because of the above, and I should have noted as such.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:29 PM ^
Yeah, if he'd been sending out emails from Harbaugh's account with Harbaugh's permission, he wouldn't have been fired and the police wouldn't have been called. Total nonsense.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:57 PM ^
If the rumor is true (I agree, big 'if') the extra piece might be that he went beyond his authorization and started digging through Harbaugh's inbox looking at shit he wasn't supposed to (e-mails from the NFL, perhaps?) Though, I can't imagine it would be escalated to the police raiding his house unless Weiss did something really stupid like forward e-mails from Jim's inbox to his own e-mail account, in which case, it might be plausible that U-M escalates it to make sure Weiss doesn't have anything on his computer/e-mail account that they don't already know about, or what to make sure what was taken did not go out further from Weiss to somewhere else.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:57 PM ^
Exactly. Yeah the cops showed up because he was sending out recruiting emails under Harbaugh’s account. To even suggest that is absurd.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:41 PM ^
If he's being thrown under the bus for something illegal or unethical he did at Harbaugh's direction, then this could get very, very ugly.
January 20th, 2023 at 7:38 PM ^
Could it be that he was planning on taking a job elsewhere and was copying info to take with him ? And got caught red handed, and the raid to house being to get university computer ? And interestingly, his response after the firing, was quite pleasant.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:20 PM ^
Can you please just post on a message board in the tone of a normal human instead of the absurd over grammaticalization?
January 20th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
This doesn't pass the sniff test unless he did this without Harbaugh's permission and Harbaugh is the one pressing the issue.
Otherwise Harbaugh would just say that he gave permission to Weiss to use his e-mail and the issue goes away. And certainly you don't expect the police searching the guys house if his only offense is to send a few e-mails to recruits.
Besides, doesn't Weiss hate recruiting?
I would be shocked if it is not more than that...
January 20th, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
There are some issues here outside of the administrative action. I mean, how did this firing occur if JH and Warde aren't talking directly to each other? Is this a direct response from Manuel that accommodates JH or is meant to punish him because of the break in their communication?
The answer to that question might hinge on whether the alleged offense Matt Weiss was accused of involves something more sinister than the university wants to publicly acknowledge to protect him or his boss. In either case, Harbaugh is impacted by the decision.
If Manuel made the firing decision, what was his motivation in doing so? And what is the effect of that decision on those prospects Weiss was recruiting, namely Jadyn Davis?
The move also gets reported to the NCAA. So how does this affect the current issues Michigan is negotiating with it?
And how is all this perceived by our new university president in oversight of athletics and the football program?
January 20th, 2023 at 9:42 PM ^
HR can definitely fire a University employee for violating policy. There easily could be a collaboration with HR, IT, Campus Police and the Athletic Department. If termination is necessary, the Department could be the one bringing the news, but the decision could have already been made.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:52 PM ^
I don't believe anything unless Counterstrike Guy confirms it.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:56 PM ^
Anybody want a peanut?
January 20th, 2023 at 9:03 PM ^
It's not my fault I'm the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise.
January 21st, 2023 at 1:34 AM ^
Man, I remember this reference... but can't remember the player.
Who was it again?
January 22nd, 2023 at 12:26 AM ^
My quote was from Andre the Giant's character in the greatest movie of all time, The Princess Bride.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:54 PM ^
You make it sound like this was above board, and that he was just doing it for Harbaugh (presumably with permission). If that were the case, then isn't it unlikely this would be a criminal investigation, given that the police report mentioned "fraudulent activity involving someone accessing university email accounts without authorization", and that most of the laws in this area similarly refer to access "without authorization"?
January 20th, 2023 at 3:04 PM ^
I pressed send on my comment (very similar) before seeing yours.
Doesn't make any sense unless Harbaugh was the one who went to the police. They searched his house because he sent some e-mails on behalf of Jim to recruits?
Whole thing seems very odd. I think the jealous lover theory makes the most sense and the recruiting e-mails is just a cover to protect the guy's family.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:34 PM ^
The only thing I can think of re:home search is to collect desktops/laptops/other email-capable devices to check umich email servers/account usage.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:48 PM ^
Exactly, if he had been found doing something nefarious, like downloading confidential docs or spying on a lover.
Not sending a recruiting e-mail with the coach's permission (or even if it was only soft permission).
January 21st, 2023 at 8:06 AM ^
Perhaps he had permission to email recruits, but went beyond that. What if this and hamburger gate are linked? Ie the source of the "lie" to the NCAA was Weis, but he did it using Harbaugh's account so the NCAA thought it came from Harbaugh.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:55 PM ^
Is the AD not on Gmail along with the rest of the University?
January 20th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
Yeah, I was thinking about that, and here a couple of possibilities:
1. The most Pro Matt Weiss slant: Matt had or genuinely thought he had implicit or explicit permission to contact recruits as JH. Even if he did have permission, there are some things you can't always authorize someone to do, like misrepresent themselves to others where a reasonable person would not expect that it's not actually JH writing the emails (unlike, say, in a fundraising email to UM alumni).
In this case, JH may have legal exposure if he "authorized" misrepresentation to recruits, so he can't stand up for MW without putting his own neck on the line. It sounds impossibly stupid but so was Stretchgate.
2. Not so Pro Matt: All assistants are under heavy recruiting pressure. If you're not a natural recruiter, you know you can get more responses making contact as The Man not as Matt Weiss. So you assume all's fair in recruiting (what, do you think Nick Saban is actually writing 50 emails a day himself?), and you already have explicit permission to read the incoming emails from recruits in JH's inbox (speculative, NOT from the source), and you stretch that a little to making use of the outbox without explicit permission.
"Authorized" starts getting gray and fraud statutes get implicated from the point of view of the recipients and maybe the university. As in, "OK, what else have you been doing on JH's behalf?
January 20th, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^
And a police search of his home was conducted based on either of those scenarios? I am just not buying it.
Maybe if he used Jim's access to also download confidential information - then I might believe it.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:10 PM ^
Well, theoretically, his account permissions could be set so that Weiss would be labeled as a "delegate" on Harbaugh's email. Those delegate permissions could include the ability to read emails, or they could include "send as" permissions. If Weiss were a "delegate" he would not need to log in under JH's profile to access his email account
(BUT if they were doing it on the sly, and didnt want to have an official record of anyone having delegated access to JHs email, then Weiss would need JHs credentials to log in under JHs profile to access the email account)
Also - if they were trying to find additional computers, then it may well be because the University uses Microsoft Outlook/Office 365. 365 is the web based version where you can log into anyone's email from any PC, provided you have credentials. You can also access any other accounts to which you have delegate access , if applicable). This MAY be why they went to his home, as maybe he used a PC at his house to log into 365, or access the school via their dedicated VPN. Doesnt mean he DID download something - but if they see the access by that PC then theyre gonna want to inspect it to see if there's anything
Source- I am an Exchange Engineer for a company with 50,000+ users
Thank you for coming to my TED talk
January 20th, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
The story isn't plausible because nobody but Harbaugh would be pressing the issue. A recruit isn't asking for a criminal investigation because he found out an email he got was from Weiss. There isn't a situation where a criminal investigation gets started that Harbaugh doesn't support and just can't defend Weiss with the truth because it would harm him.
The guy clearly sent something without permission, and whatever he sent was bad enough it triggered an investigation. That isn't a standard recruit to an email, that just defies all logic.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^
The thing that doesn't seem plausible to me is that anyone is emailing recruits. You'd have to text the kids to tell them to read their email.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:43 PM ^
Exactly what I thought. I’m sure some recruiting related business happens on email, but it’s gotta be pretty limited.
January 21st, 2023 at 11:27 AM ^
I am a HS teacher and can confirm: kids do not do email. They don’t even check it. It’s “for old people.” You can use a computer to send a message that a teen would actually read (texting can be done from a computer), but that wouldn’t be with email.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:58 PM ^
no. having been thru the recruiting process with my son it is a VERY well known fact all coaches, especially head coaches, have people messaging on twitter, IG and sending emails on their behalf. So Weiss "breaking in" to do this is not something that would warrant this level of police activity. It would be dealt in house and not a soul would know about it.
Searching his home for devices that he used that were UM property to see what he sent makes zero sense. All they have to do is check the server and see the activity. even if deleted it will still be accessible via server.
I have zero clue what it could be but signing into JH's account to send recruit shit on his behalf is not it. at all.
unmarked cars outside a house and obtaining a search warrant means its serious. Very serious.
I honestly don't trust ANYTHING coming out of the university at this point because they don't want this to effect recruiting at all.
January 20th, 2023 at 5:35 PM ^
I apologize if I missed new details, but I’m genuinely curious how this played out.
Is there new information about a warrant? Last I read, ESPN article stated an unnamed neighbor claimed they saw unmarked cars. Has anyone confirmed that as fact? Or is this sensationalized speculation?
January 20th, 2023 at 6:47 PM ^
No people probably making shi_ up as this story unfolds.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:26 PM ^
Wait, do 17 yr old's actually use email? If this were unauthorized texting I think it makes more sense.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:35 PM ^
I always have to text my daughters to check their email like when i send a gift card or their airline tickets I bought
January 20th, 2023 at 4:37 PM ^
Honest question: Do recruits read emails? I thought it was all Instatock and MyFace nowadays.
January 20th, 2023 at 6:55 PM ^
And here I am still trying to figure out the interwebs...
January 20th, 2023 at 5:32 PM ^
Given that NCAA hasn't said anything about it probably has nothing to do with recruiting at all.
January 20th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
I dunno man. All due respect to you and your sources, but the tone of Weiss' statement seems like that of a guy who knows he messed up and is hanging his head in shame. My guess is that this stems from some non-football-related issue in Weiss' personal life.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:54 PM ^
That seems plausible, especially if Weiss didn’t have Jim’s permission. But after Warde didn’t fire Jim after 2-4 (performance,) Howard after the slap (violence, severity of which is debatable,) or Mel immediately after the external report, this seems like keeping Pete Rose out of the HoF for gambling. Like, Weiss picked the wrong technicality to violate.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:03 PM ^
It’s not perfectly normal to do that without the coach’s permission (making the access unauthorized). It’s also possible that Harbaugh account has access to somehow protected student info that Weiss does not have rights to access.
January 20th, 2023 at 4:00 PM ^
It might be one of those deals where "permission" is a wink and a nudge. Not exactly rock-solid as a defense even if it was clear what it meant at the time.