The Athletic- NCAA only got this last Tuesday
Pretty amazing stuff, this outside law firm presented this to the NCAA and the next day they tell the Big Ten
No more information who is paying this law firm
The timing also seems to confirm the leaks initially were from the Big Ten not the NCAA, the leaks today do seem to be from the NCAA IMO
“The firm presented its information to the NCAA last Tuesday, according to the newspaper, and the NCAA informed both the Big Ten and Michigan that it had opened an investigation into the matter Wednesday. The investigation became public knowledge Thursday.”
https://theathletic.com/4999767/2023/10/25/michigan-sign-stealing-inves…
October 25th, 2023 at 8:47 PM ^
Fuck me. We’re done
October 25th, 2023 at 8:52 PM ^
No, we're just getting started.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:07 PM ^
Eh, now there is a report (rumor) that he actually attended a Friday night game in person this year. If that is true, it all probably just got worse.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:55 PM ^
It wasn't over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.
Also, clickable link: https://theathletic.com/4999767/2023/10/25/michigan-sign-stealing-investigation-outside-firm/
October 25th, 2023 at 9:00 PM ^
Animal House.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:09 PM ^
Forget it. He's rolling.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:12 PM ^
Ask your wife
October 25th, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^
Only the first half of your statement is valid.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:52 PM ^
Some of you make Ryan Day a very hard man by comparison. Yeesh.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
Try to get ahold of yourself.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:47 PM ^
The more I read the more I think this was leaked at this time to derail what should have been a smooth contract extension done over the bye week.
Now UM has to spend the bye week in damage control mode as much as possible while not being able to put out any PR.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:48 PM ^
honestly. just publicly comment. what is the NCAA going to do? Open an investigation?
October 25th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
I very much agree
October 25th, 2023 at 8:53 PM ^
how about we extend coach anyway? Just do it
October 25th, 2023 at 8:58 PM ^
Start information themselves
Bacon, Webb, et al.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:05 PM ^
Yeah, if there's one thing I'd like to see from the AD would be after tomorrow's meeting with the NCAA they come out with a statement of whatever the current state of the situation is from their viewpoint. There's a lot of traction coming out of this report that people are just taking as fact, and while it may be true I also suspect that any firm hired specifically to look into something is inclined to give the client what they ask for.
October 26th, 2023 at 7:39 AM ^
So far, Warde Manuel’s entire tenure as AD is marked by an absolute refusal to publicly communicate or say anything about anything unless forced to by circumstances. It’s the most communications-averse policy I can remember seeing by any senior executive at a highly visible organization like U-M.
October 26th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
Hit the nail on the head. The refusal to get ahead of this is letting the death by a thousand paper cuts crowd take control Unreal. And like someone stated above, what is the NCAA going to do if we do comment?? Nothing.
October 26th, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
You seem to be expecting a lot from the man that said the NCAA was right - that Harbaugh deserved a $10K fine for calling out the officiating after 2016.
Lets be dead serious - the only time Warde ever backed Harbaugh was when Wilton Speight's neck was broken by a cheap hit and Purdue transported him to a hospital in the front seat of a van. And it was a one-time presser where he stood in the background and let Jim take the lead.
You should expect more of the same damage control Warde has already put forth in the face of Sign Gate: continued silence.
October 26th, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^
Whoa is that real? The van thing? Bc that is CRAZY negligent if true.
October 26th, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^
Yes, it's real. And it was a big issue at the time...
October 25th, 2023 at 9:01 PM ^
Stapleton might agree.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:26 PM ^
Well, hello.
https://mgoblog.com/users/harmon4heisman
You're a busy little beaver, aren't you? :) Lots of posts in a little over two days. Very curious timing.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:42 PM ^
Curious indeed.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:16 PM ^
Most indeededly
October 26th, 2023 at 9:24 AM ^
Indeedingly indeed...he treated me like it was the first time he ever saw me.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:20 PM ^
The guy you linked sounds like the private investigator.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:32 PM ^
Someone is waging war on the Michigan football program... maybe it's time our leaders started responding accordingly.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:55 PM ^
Harbaugh was never going to sign an extension during the season. If he wanted to sign a deal without testing the NFL waters again, he would’ve done it during the off season.
October 25th, 2023 at 11:04 PM ^
I've seen numerous things reported, but it still appears that football programs have used a "vast network" to spy on Michigan, to accuse Michigan of spying. Programs creating a potentially major scandal to try to get a minor one stick on us.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:48 PM ^
Oh how I hate Ohio State.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:59 PM ^
i sure hope our fans pack the big house and stay away from the secondary market with ticket re sale.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:56 PM ^
If it turns out OSU was behind this (which I find hard to believe), it’ll be the biggest pussy move I’ve ever heard of.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:48 PM ^
Let's hire the same firm to investigate every top 50 program...start a gofundme, I'm in.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:55 PM ^
That's what I'm saying. If you can hire lawyers and private investigators to get dirt on your opponents, then every major program should have a massive budget allocated to that.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:25 PM ^
That idea was not in Wylde Stalions' 600 page manifesto on ideas to make Michigan the most epic tubular program of all tizzimes.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
That idea is most non-heinous.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^
I'm in. Do it.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:50 PM ^
Michigan vs. Everybody
Fuck em'
Go Blue forever
October 25th, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^
Ignore the BS and just win the natty.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^
I looked at the potential rules and bylaws that were violated (in part thanks to many others) and I don't see where any rules were broken. Sure, it's in the gray area but Harbaugh has a long history of skirting the rules to look for any advantage (ie summer camps).
But the timing of all this, and the way news has been trickling out does smell fishy.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:07 PM ^
Thatll be the final question. Can Michigan argue that Connor wasnt even doing anything explicitly against NCAA rules? Tall task but maybe.
Additionally, lets say Michigan did have a network of in person scouting. Is it that bad of a crime in the NCAAs eyes? This has got all our rivals and overly excited but when lawyers all sit down in a room together, is there much to punish?
October 25th, 2023 at 10:51 PM ^
Could come down to spirt of the rule vs wording of the rule.
October 26th, 2023 at 12:02 AM ^
Never cared for the "spirit of the rule" argument. Make the rule what you want it to be; don't count on everyone to interpret the spirit in which you intended it. Nevertheless, the intent of this rule seems to be that in1994 small schools could not afford to send people to games for in person scouting. That is quite inexpensive these days, so it seems that the need for the rule is beyond it's useful life.
October 26th, 2023 at 12:25 AM ^
When tech changes so much, hard to really assess the 'spirit' of the law. It's far more trivial to record something now than it was 27 years ago, witnessed by the tremendous amount of video and increased accessibility.
October 26th, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
Reply had to wait for Trustage to go away...
::shakes fist at overly intrusive ads::
Hosting summer camps was in no way 'illegal' activity per NCAA rules. And it wasn't even anywhere close to 'skirting' the rules. At least it wasn't until the SEC and ACC decided it was encroaching on their turf a little too much... How dare you do something good for kids while also promoting the game!
October 25th, 2023 at 8:52 PM ^
Gold jacket, green jacket, who gives a shit me…
Win out and make ‘em see why none of this ever mattered.
October 25th, 2023 at 8:53 PM ^
List of suspects who could have hired the firm (in order of most to least likely)
Day
Frames
Stapleton
Tuck
Gattis
Weiss