Update From Former AD Employee / Insider Buddy
Some quick updates from my buddy, the one who shared info on the "binders of dirt" on other programs.
- Has no confirmation on the supposed 6-9 other teams that were allegedly also in person scouting. He says it could just be a rumor. That said, UM has indeed hired 3 separate firms (one named Kroll?) to look into
- How UM's signs were obtained
- Who shared those signs
- How far the conspiracy went (how many teams shared the signs)
- Also of interest, was there indeed video tape of UM's practice circulating in 2018-2019 as has been alleged? And which teams had or have that tape.
- Was it OSU that hired a PI team to go after UM (AD is 90% certain it was)
- On the legal side, he has nothing to add that hasn't gone public. Most of the legal info is not really coming out of the AD at this point but is at the university / regents / President level rn.
- Of note, UM is not just looking at other conferences per leverage. There are actual convos going on, albeit very early. There is a deep, profound grievance that OSU in particular has been "getting away with murder" for 15 years (as the B1G flagship program) and UM is being railroaded in a clever PI / PR hit job here. Actual conversations (no idea how serious) have taken place with the SEC. Out of left field - Texas for some reason is in contact with UM and is in their ear and pushing hard for them to join SEC - no idea what that relationship is about.
That's all I got. Not too helpful in these crazy times, but felt I should share.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
Should you really post the firm handling this?
November 10th, 2023 at 10:27 PM ^
Wasn’t this public knowledge a few days ago?
edit— my bad was getting it mixed up with the lawyer firm. So many names & names & lawyers this week
November 10th, 2023 at 10:30 PM ^
Kroll is a big incident response firm in infosec. Common firm to hire if there's any possibility of a breach.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:44 PM ^
Heard they hired the wrong Kroll
November 10th, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
He's the heir.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:48 PM ^
epic gif fail.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:51 PM ^
I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to post a gif for 15 years.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
Kroll is a cyber forensics firm. They’re legit. Bet.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:35 PM ^
Kroll does a lot more than just cyber security. They are bad ass.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
To post a GIF:
I don't use the OE embed. I like this method better, it gives the full size YouTube window:
(1) On YouTube, click the "Share" button below the video window, (2) then click the "Embed < >" icon on the top left of the pop-up Share window, (3) then click "Copy" in lower right corner of this window (this copies it to the clipboard). The embed code is a nasty string of text, but don't sweat it. Note that it begins with "<iframe" and ends with "iframe>" in case you need to edit the post later.
(4) Go to your MGo post comment window, place the cursor by clicking within your post where you want the video to be inserted, (5) then click "Source" at the top right of the toolbar. The window format changes to be more code-like and you will see this text code string where the cursor is:
</p>
(6) Paste the embed code in this string after the semicolon (before the </p>), as follows:
(INSERT EMBED CODE HERE)</p>
(7) Then click "Preview" instead of "Save" and you will see how it looks. Click Save if you like it, if not then click "Source" and go back to fix it in the Source window (click "Source" again to exit).
Profit!
November 11th, 2023 at 1:22 AM ^
I just right click ‘Copy’ on any gif online, then right click ‘Paste’ into the mgoblog comment box and it shows up.
(using Chrome)
November 11th, 2023 at 3:08 AM ^
Thanks, KO!
November 10th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
I would like to leave this conference, but I fear that talk of binders full of scandals are either not real or won't be used and we're stuck in this conference.
Also, why would Texas be in our ear? What is their advantage? I could see the SEC displaying power over the BigTen, maybe, probably not.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:28 PM ^
Texas I’m pretty sure is the wealthiest AD around. They know a fantastic $ opportunity when they see it. That’s my .02
November 10th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
And Texas is probably the closest peer to Michigan from both an academic and athletic standpoint.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
Yeah, having lived in ATX up until recently, they are a like-minded program with similar proclivities and tragedies. They probably wouldn't mind us coming with them into the SEC so the hate they will get soon enough will be divided by 2.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:34 PM ^
Texas is one of the handful of schools who line up with Michigan as far as combining academic and athletic success. They may like the idea of Michigan as a partner.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:44 PM ^
I have been wishing Texas came to the B1G instead of the SEC for a while. I may be biased as an Austin resident who wants to see Michigan play more often, but they fit a lot better than the West coast schools. I can't say I imagined this option, but I'd be down to follow them to the SEC instead.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:44 PM ^
Texas genuinely actually cares about academics. The SEC ... outside of Vanderbilt ... does not. Texas might want another major academic power. Just a guess though.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:57 PM ^
University of Florida ain't bad. WSJ declared them #1 public university
November 11th, 2023 at 1:25 AM ^
Not that UF isn’t a fine university, but WSJ hasn’t exactly been reliable lately.
November 11th, 2023 at 5:42 AM ^
Wow. All Florida universities have been bleeding faculty and other employees due to aggressive political interference. (More than 1000 resigned from UF in 2022, e.g.) WSJ's credibility continues to plummet, I guess.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:10 PM ^
Michigan, Texas, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M would form a dynamic aerospace partnership. Vandy is huge in radiation effects research and A&M has a cyclotron for doing radiation testing. We could ask Purdue to join us to dominate the field, and then tell them on second thought, eh, never mind. They fucked themselves when they accepted the opponents’ research and didn’t immediately turn them in.
November 11th, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
I would prefer Illinois as it has a better (higher rated) engineering program than Purdue.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:20 PM ^
The conference is a sports conference, so no it really doesn't care about academics. But the schools in the SEC do. This ain't 1970, they are mostly decent to good schools, who will never catch schools like Michigan because Michigan has a 100 year head start money and prestige wise.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
I mean, could you be any more wrong?
University of Michigan: founded 1817
University of Alabama: founded 1820
South Carolina: 1801
Tennessee: 1794
Missouri: 1839
Georgia: 1785 (!!!)
Some of them were founded around the Civil War or shortly after, but that includes some of the better institutions: Vandy (1873) and Florida (1853). This "100 year head start" is as fictional and impactful as Connor Stalions' "Vast Network".
Alabama's a mediocre-at-best school because they willfully made themselves a football whore with a school attached, not because Michigan beat them to the punch by a whopping three years.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:04 PM ^
I don't see how the relationship is reparable. Michigan is now forced to fight everything to the max because most of our conference is against us. Having said that as long as Michigan continues to win this will turn in the court of public opinion.
If OSU orchestrated all this and they still get their shit pushed in, again....people will start asking tough questions.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:47 PM ^
This is one of the most perplexing elements of this entire situation proving to have many perplexing elements.
Literally every school not named Ohio State is undermining their own financial interest by gaslighting Michigan to the point where they need to consider whether or not they want to align with the member institutions in the conference.
If Michigan leaves the B1G, the conference eventually collapses. Ohio State and (probably) Penn State would be fine. They carry enough cache that, however the void is filled in the wake of a power conference collapse, they'll have a seat at the table in the new power conference dynamic.
But for the programs that remain (like Rutgers, Purdue, Iowa, even Michigan State, et. al), making up what is currently the most profitable conference in college sports, you directly undermine the relevance and profitability for your athletic programs if you're in a profit sharing environment without Michigan. No new power conference needs Rutgers, or Iowa or Purdue. But they need Michigan. You were in the club, and you're creating massive levels of exposure to lose your meal ticket over pressuring the league to issue a jail time sentence to a flagship program over a parking citation.
It's absolutely asinine. You really dislike Jim Harbaugh and Michigan so much that you're willing to burn down your athletic department over an offense you're staff is probably doing as well? Truly crazy times we live in.
November 11th, 2023 at 12:14 AM ^
I hope one of the caches they carry is a cache of cachet.
November 11th, 2023 at 1:04 AM ^
They are just bootlicking OSU, like they did in 1973. They don't want a strong Michigan. They would rather be humiliated by one master rather than two. Less money is okay with them I suppose.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:25 PM ^
We’ve had a lot of good posts from lawyers explaining big ten bylaws. We need a post breaking down the process to leave the conference and how much it would cost
November 11th, 2023 at 1:15 AM ^
Not a lawyer, but guessing it would just cost some legal fees to show that the B1G breached our agreement with them
November 11th, 2023 at 7:34 AM ^
Would rather see a jump to the ACC. Higher academics, already has northern elements in its footprint. SEC is mostly a bunch OSUs.
November 11th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
I second this. I don't consider the SEC to be a greener pasture. The ACC feels like a better fit and that conference would be foolish not to take this chance to extend an offer. Michigan immediately adds substantial credibility, both academically and athletically, to the conference. The TV revenue the conference could now demand would add stability by satisfying the unsettled schools (Miami, FSU, Clemson). Perhaps they even gain enough leverage to tell ND to either go all in or gtfo.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
Texas is in the ear of Michigan? Interesting.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:32 PM ^
Man, I remember when Texas was on our Big Ten wishlist.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
SEC can go to hell. They're in bed with ESPN.
Another solution: Pull USC, UCLA, NW and a few others and recreate something resembling a PAC 10.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
Just think how many nice things Reese and Penis Head will say about M if they're in the SEC.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:47 PM ^
Haha this now makes me wonder. If there were talks with the SEC this week it’s no wonder ESPN did a near 180 midweek with regards to their reporting of Michigan. Strange…
November 10th, 2023 at 11:08 PM ^
Michigan, ND, and USC teaming up and going to the ACC is my preferred option right now. I think that instantly makes the ACC the top revenue/TV conference.
November 10th, 2023 at 11:14 PM ^
Also, just how long does anyone think Jim "pay the players" Harbaugh will last in that wholesome, folksy, nothing-going-on-here place that is the Ess-fuckin'-Ee-See.
Like, we're leaving the B1G because they ganged up on us, right?
The SEC already did that over football camps.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
Fuck the B1G. ESS EE SEE.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
Something has gone seriously wrong with a sport when its rules and governance have helped lead to rivals hiring PI firms to investigate each other. I'm glad that Michigan has hired one--don't get me wrong--but this is a ridiculous situation.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:30 PM ^
For OSU, losing twice in a row constituted "something seriously wrong."
November 10th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
I agree, but if we're doing this, Kroll is exactly the shop we would want. Those guys do not fuck around.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:36 PM ^
If that's how Ohio State wants to play, that's the way we'll play. But unlike OSU, we can do better than hiring Third Base Investigations.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
Money. There is just too much involved these days.
November 10th, 2023 at 10:45 PM ^
This is beginning to remind me of the espionage and double-agents of the Cold War. The Reds (Ohio) drew 1st blood. One has to wonder if we had one of our own (staffer, one of Connor's vast nation, etc.) steal the files that the PI firm got. Not that it real matters now, but in the Spy vs. Spy game it's our turn to retaliate. Someone formerly connected to Ohio can be summoned. War is HELL, and Ohio is going to find out soon enough.