Harbaugh Attorney Tom Mars Statements to B1G
Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellenger consolidated article about UM response to B1G, including excerpts of response by Harbaugh attorney Tom Mars:
"In a separate eight-page letter to the Big Ten, Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, mirrors many of the same arguments but also offers the first explanation for some of the questions that have dogged the Michigan coach since the Stalions scandal first broke. NCAA rules prohibit public comment during an ongoing investigation, effectively preventing the accused from publicly defending themselves.
Mars, for example, addresses the accusation that even if there is no proof Harbaugh did know about how Stalions was able to steal opponent’s signs, Harbaugh should have known, or at least should have been more curious, because Stalions’ was able to do it. It is legal to steal signs. It is the in-person scouting ring Stalions allegedly ran that is against NCAA rules.
However, Mars argues that since Michigan offered proof that both Ohio State and Rutgers had accurately stolen its play signals last season — presumably via game film, which is allowed — that figuring out the signs is not particularly difficult."
“When other teams had been legally acquiring Michigan’s signals with 100 percent accuracy for at least two years by studying Michigan game films, there was no reason for Coach Harbaugh or anyone else to believe that (Stalions) had not acquired his information about other team’s signals by using the same methodology," Mars wrote.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:26 PM ^
more interesting info from the article:
"Meanwhile Mars cites the lack of authority under Big Ten rules for Petitti to usurp NCAA statutes to punish, warns that any penalty could be “an unlawful interference with [Harbaugh’s] employment” and cautioned that no decision should be made just to placate rival coaches who have reason to hope for Harbaugh’s demise.
“It should be self-evident that the Commissioner’s duty is to make sound decisions based on his own principles and those of the Conference and to disregard anyone’s desire for a rush to judgment — especially when they’re motivated by a desire to diminish Michigan’s opportunity to win the Conference and advance to the playoffs,” Mars wrote."
November 8th, 2023 at 9:29 PM ^
and additional details about the UM response:
"Michigan claims the league is not following proper due process spelled out in the conference handbook — including an appeals process and a committee vote — and is instead “bootstrapping unproven rules violations through the sportsmanship policy,” the letter notes. Michigan says that any action from the league is a “breach" of the Big Ten handbook and any discipline against Harbaugh “would exceed the commissioner’s authority under the Sportsmanship Policy.”
Michigan claims the sportsmanship policy should not be used for this case and has not been used for such cases in the past, creating what the school describes as an “indefensible precedent.” The policy is most often used to address disparaging comments about officiating, post-game insults, profane language, obscene gestures, media posts and racial slurs.
“We are not aware of a single instance in which the sportsmanship policy has ever been deployed as a backdoor way of holding an institution or individual responsible for a rules violation,” the letter notes.
Also, the school notes, “nothing in your email suggests there is any basis to conclude that Coach Harbaugh committed an offensive action.”
Michigan pushes back on the Big Ten’s plan to punish Harbaugh under the NCAA’s head coach responsibility bylaw, as well. That is the "incorrect" use of the bylaw. The league rules don’t cite head-coach responsibility and there is no precedent to apply the sportsmanship policy to a head coach."
November 8th, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^
and, some more:
"The university expresses “concern” that the Big Ten’s “rush” to punishment is “more about reacting to pressure from the public and other conference members rather than a desire to fairly and impartially apply the rules,” the letter states.
The school believes any punishment or judgment is premature. For instance, the letter says, no coaching staff members have been interviewed. “There is no reason to shortcut a full investigation in favor of summary punishment.”
The university says it has not seen any video evidence on which Petitti is basing allegations around and it questions four pieces of evidence that the league sent the school over the weekend. The four pieces of evidence include:
- records of Stalions’ tickets purchased and transfers,
- one unsolicited tip by an unidentified person claiming to have witnessed a person in Stalions' seat filming the sideline,
- a link to a public article that includes a “now-deleted” video of Stalions on the sideline of a Michigan game,
- a short video titled “UMass vs. PSU video” that “does not clearly show anything at all,” the letter says.
“From what we can tell, your email largely relies on rumor,” the letter says.
If Stalions’ associates were involved, the school casts doubt that any rule was violated. The NCAA’s in-person scouting policy is for a team’s “athletics personnel.” Also, Michigan claims that Stalions and associates recording games may not fall under the NCAA’s prohibition on recording because that applies to “field equipment deployed during games in which that institution participates.”
November 8th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
If THAT is the evidence, then I feel really good about the outcome. Onward!!
November 8th, 2023 at 10:00 PM ^
Right? What the hell? I had assumed the Big Ten had some additional evidence the public doesn't have, but that evidence sounds like a joke.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
So it looks like UM is saving the grey area legal argument too!
November 9th, 2023 at 6:16 AM ^
Good. I was disappointed by when I heard earlier reports that suggested M was conceding the impropriety of Stallions using surrogates to record. The argument against that interpretation is formidable and if the Big Ten is going to hardball M, then M should be willing to make that argument if they need to.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:38 PM ^
It sounds like they have.....nothing.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:42 PM ^
It sounds like Petitti is a middle schooler who had a semester project and didn't start working on it until the night before it was due.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
And the entire class went to his aid.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:18 PM ^
Michigan’s lawyers literally threatened a restraining order in their letter. At this point he can’t represent the entirety of the conference in any meaningful way. It’s over.
His lack of clarity, lack of communication, and his total inability to even attempt to quell a wildly speculative media storm slandering one of his member institutions is damning.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:55 PM ^
I doubt Petitti will survive this. Michigan is going to insist he be gone when it's time to make the peace.
November 9th, 2023 at 6:24 AM ^
It is a pretty big blunder. Not only an ill-advised rush to judgement but a rush to punishment.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:43 PM ^
It is interesting that we're at this point in the scandal and there is still yet to be any videos/pictures of people filming from the seats that Stalions supposedly bought released. Almost like if they released them, it would be laughed at by the public
November 8th, 2023 at 9:49 PM ^
That always struck me as odd too. It's like a radio sitcom or some shit. Why can't we see anything??? Show us!
November 8th, 2023 at 9:47 PM ^
That's their evidence? An anonymous source, a article written by someone, and a random video?
These guys are fucking idiots honestly. Why is that evidence, but Michigan providing evidence against OSU, we get a "ah well that's fine, everyone does i, NBD"? The B1G is fucked if it goes to court.
I also enjoy how they decided to go for the grey area and put the burden on them and the NCAA to prove Michigan did ANYTHING wrong and not just saying they did to make it go away.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:50 PM ^
Connor Stalions is going to be back on the sidelines by the time this is all done.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:11 PM ^
Ya know, that would be the ultimate middle-finger to a bunch of people. At this point I'd support it for that reason alone.
November 9th, 2023 at 5:45 AM ^
I hope that CS sues the pants off these schools for publicly releasing CC transaction data. Then I hope he figures out a way to sue WAPO for releasing “potentially” stolen computer data, this might require WAPO to expose their PI source and this whole can of worms gets opened up. It would be some shit of CS could actually help expose the level of collusion happening here.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:33 AM ^
I fucking hope not. Stalions needs to fade into that good night. And not gently. My biggest complaint in all this nonsense is how a self aggrandizing amateur like him found a place anywhere near the football program.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:05 AM ^
No he’s not. He’s still a fucking idiot.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:51 PM ^
Very well written and reasoned. Thank you for sharing all of this.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:54 PM ^
Is this seriously some of the evidence the Big Ten sent us?
- one unsolicited tip by an unidentified person claiming to have witnessed a person in Stalions' seat filming the sideline,
- a link to a public article that includes a “now-deleted” video of Stalions on the sideline of a Michigan game,
- a short video titled “UMass vs. PSU video” that “does not clearly show anything at all,” the letter says.
Seriously. What are we doing here. This is insanity
November 8th, 2023 at 10:07 PM ^
When your evidence amount to "trust me bro" mayyybeee it's time to take a breather before handing out punishments.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:35 PM ^
a link to a public article that includes a “now-deleted” video of Stalions on the sideline of a Michigan game
Is this the Columbus TV video? Why was it deleted?
November 8th, 2023 at 11:31 PM ^
My assumption is it's just a dig at what a pathetic effort Petitti made in sending evidence, that he was just grabbing random links from the internet and happened to choose one that didn't even link the video correctly. You can still find it on the internet pretty easily.
As an aside, I still can't get over the Zapruder treatment that video got, which did nothing other than prove that Stalions was doing his perfectly within the rules job.
November 9th, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
Yes, that's a simpler explanation. I sort of assumed they'd referenced the link at the station's own website, and that that's where it had been taken down. So then I wondered if they realized the original source of the video was a cellphone and not the TV station's own cameras. Everyone points to the watermark but that could have just been put on when they aired it.
Am I completely off base here? Somehow the video didn't look like the quality I'd expect from a TV camera.
So far as the Zapruder is concerned, that was back when it was a SIGN STEALING SCANDAL and the fact that Stalions was sharing his work with the coaches was proof of their complicity. And yes I know that never made sense but this is Columbus we're talking about here.
November 9th, 2023 at 12:43 AM ^
Yeah, the most damning part of that video is that it very clearly seems to be an illegal iphone video of Michigan's sideline from OSU's sideline.
November 9th, 2023 at 6:41 AM ^
You could be right and it would of course be hilarious if it eventually was proven to be video by OSU staff. Maybe it was from the PI.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:25 AM ^
The good news is that their evidence is garbage. The bad news is that they proceeded with evidence that they knew was garbage, which points to bad faith. At this point it looks like they know they have nothing, but they just wanted to make us sweat and look bad, so that we would be distracted from our quest to win on the field, where it matters. It really does look like the collusion extends to the B1G “leadership.”
November 8th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Shit I could have built a better case against Michigan just by reading this blog. That’s the best the B1G could do? Weak.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:05 PM ^
Good shit, Tom
November 8th, 2023 at 10:08 PM ^
This is a specific point I've brought up a number of times. Ryan Walters (and others) keep saying they have multiple instances of sign stealing "on video." I very much doubt that. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts what they ACTUALLY have is stadium surveillance footage of a guy in a specific seat holding up a phone. Now, is that guys/those guys almost certainly getting paid by Stalions to record the signals? Sure, but what does the footage actually show? A guy who could be a creep recording cheerleaders? A guy recording the crowd? A guy recording the sky or livestreaming his own face for all the footage likely shows. I would almost guarantee that's what Walters "multiple instances on tape" actually are.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:36 PM ^
I don’t even think they have that. All that was in the “news” was the D3 coach guy and they mentioned only 1 game where he was paid to record. I’m sure if he did other games it would have been mentioned. Plus the one other piece said they had evidence of someone in the seat recording. I’ll assume this would be the same video mentioned or article mentioned in the Evidence lmao… Big ten is such a joke. 😂😂😂😂…: I say $5k fine to the Big10 and $5k for the NCAA. They’ll be able to purchase tons of nothing burgers with that.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:02 AM ^
By the time this is done, the Big Ten and NCAA are going to owe Michigan money!
November 8th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
Right. And that's the kind of thing we would have accepted as actual evidence if they were going to, say, give us a $10k fine as a good faith member of the conference (and the NCAA). But not now since they are bad faith actors themselves.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
The video shows a person with a phone out surrounded by thousands of other people with their phone out. This is why they're not sharing the video, it will be ridiculously absurd.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:50 AM ^
Dude! You included the link, no need to quote the whole article.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:49 PM ^
This is all good stuff, and I'm very happy Michigan decided to "push back" on this, but unfortunately, the officiating is going to be the real punishment.
Even if the B1G doesn't explicitly tell the officials to "hurt Michigan" (which they likely will), I find it hard to believe officials beholden to the B1G won't do it on their own.
November 9th, 2023 at 7:49 AM ^
The only good news there is michigan is the least penalized team in America and it may (emphasis on may) be harder to "lay it on", so to speak. At the end of the day, this team is going to have to be the muscle that powers through all that.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:08 AM ^
Yea this is my worry as well. Officiating will put us in a 10-14 point hole in each of these games. It’s tough to fight the other team and the striped shirts at the same time.
November 9th, 2023 at 11:41 AM ^
Too tin-foil-hatty for my tastes. There is no person named "B1G" to tell anyone anything. If Petitti tried to tell Brenda Hilton, the B1G's Director of Officiating, to break the sportsmanship rules in order to "hurt Michigan," there's no way she would risk her entire career to obey him, especially as he is effectively a lame duck. And Petitti going past her to directly tell the officials to "hurt Michigan" could not possibly be kept secret.
TL:DR: Don't be ridiculous.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:26 PM ^
I get the point that Mars is making/why he's postulating that Ohio State got the signs legally, but anyone who thinks that Rutgers sent the stolen signals to Purdue but not to Ohio State is kidding themselves.
November 9th, 2023 at 4:27 AM ^
I'm ready for the SEC or ACC tbh. Fuck the NCAA. Fuck the B1G. Fuck Ryan Day and the Bucknuts. Fuck MSU.
Hundreds of years of tradition being pissed on by twitter hearsay.
I'd rather play Saban annually than the weak ass posterboy we pasted the past two years, and even in their own toilet seat stadium last year.
We'll get better playing better competition and we can always knock them out of the playoffs since Petitty can prop up the Buckeye soft-serves every year to the committee - especially when their only valid competition left the conference over their bullshit.
The writing is on the wall and the B1G actually blew off their own foot and any advantage they had over the SEC with it.
Sick of being disrespected when we make the B1G all their fucking money.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:48 AM ^
Wait, "hundreds of years of tradition"? OK. . . what are giving up here?
All that tradition was garbage. Michigan has always been the whipping boy of the B1G. They're just pissing on stale piss at this point.
The conference has repeatedly broke precedent to screw over Michigan. It's not even conspiracy because they're doing it openly, like with this "Signgate" nonsense. We don't need to know what the 13 other programs discussed with ChatGPTtiti. That they met without inviting Michigan says everything. That's like, treehouse club stuff from well-paid suits. This is after the '16 ref screwjob and changing the rules midseason for OSU's benefit in '20. That's just in Harbaugh's tenure. Their hatred of Michigan goes back considerably farther.
FTR, it's not like I want the preferential treatment. I would like a conference to be impartial, but the B1G is not, and has never been.
November 9th, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
Jim Harbaugh could have stayed in the conference call but wisely chose to leave when he'd had his say. To say that "they met without inviting Michigan" seems absurd given that Michigan was not only invited, but present when it wanted to be.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:27 PM ^
...with 100% accuracy
Translation: suck on my Mars Bar
November 8th, 2023 at 9:28 PM ^
This was the same thought process and my many points to those Ohio State homers... They kept insisting there is a connection that pins JH (when there isn't).. The rule that Big Ten might use to suspend JH would then have to apply the same way for those accused schools... They could kept saying their schools are legal but that is the same point that Michigan is making... Again, not stating Connor action is right or not but that do not have consequence of which it can't apply to JH and should not (hence, rogue staffer)...
November 8th, 2023 at 9:29 PM ^
Boom!!!
Light bulb should be going off with the slower individuals that believe Harbaugh should've known.
Its all obtainable from regular game film.