Jim McElwain and CMU Speak on Stalions
"...the sign stealer guy" ššš
https://twitter.com/BroadwellK/status/1719558811608887551
He looks super uncomfortable talking about it though, which makese wonder if they were acquainted when McElwain was here. š¤
November 1st, 2023 at 7:26 AM ^
Thatās what so weird about CMUās reactionāthey should know within 10 seconds if that guy is a legit CMU guy or not. Since they havenāt issued such a declaration, youād think they would have already stated that it was indeed Stalions. I wonder if McElwain is embarrassed that Stalions was allowed to roam the sidelines during a game and nobody on his staff confronted Stalions with āwho the fuck are you?ā
November 1st, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
Connor Stallions is hiding out in northern Idaho with D.B. Cooper.
November 1st, 2023 at 3:08 AM ^
I can't believe this shit. Wild.
November 1st, 2023 at 3:40 AM ^
This is shades of Richard Jewell + Catch Me If You Can + Burn After Readingā¦
What else am I missing?
At what point is Michigan no longer the co-conspirator but another one of the deceived in all this?
November 1st, 2023 at 5:35 AM ^
Jeff Gillooly has yet to make an appearance.
November 1st, 2023 at 6:15 AM ^
At this point Iām just going with inspector gadget. Entertaining sure, but straight up dumb as shit.
November 1st, 2023 at 5:24 AM ^
Does anyone on this board have any idea of what kind of professional relationship McIlwain has with Harbaugh? I'm guessing not great, otherwise I would expect out of professional courtesy he might have offered a few positive words about his experience in the year he was at Michigan and how Harbaugh runs the program. Unless he did say something and it's just not included in this clip, or college football is so spy vs. spy that even an innocuous positive statement would be going out on a limb, or perhaps anything that deflects attention from how he runs his own program is a good thing, or ??? It strikes me as odd that a coach would seem to be ok giving any oxygen to this story - accepting this kind of media coverage is ultimately not in his self-interest.
November 1st, 2023 at 7:01 AM ^
Yeah, it would have been cool if he said something positive about Harbaugh, but I wouldn't expect him to say something. He has his own reputation and program to worry about.
November 1st, 2023 at 7:56 AM ^
So stupid. So weāre going with thatās a verified photo? Ok. I donāt know how but fine, letās just say thatās āproofā. Fine. And your next point on that? We already know he allegedly did this. Wake me up when you have some real shit. This is ridiculous. Getting to be beyond ridiculous.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
Crap. Here's another pic of him. It's just making this situation more confusing.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:40 AM ^
This is going to be a Whereās Waldo clown show
November 1st, 2023 at 8:01 AM ^
lol this Italian Stallion guy is on another level.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Given his military background, shouldn't it be Battalion Stallion? I'll show myself out. Good day to you, sir.
November 1st, 2023 at 8:17 AM ^
I just donāt think it is him. Unfortunately Iām not able to say that with conviction. If I could figure out how to post pics on this thread Iād make exhibit A a profile screen grab of the alleged CS as McElwain is walking directly by him. Is that a wig with sideburns and a well cropped haircut? CS is bald. Also that has to be a spray on sunburn on alleged CS because exhibit B would be next day E Carolina C.S. looking much less sun touched and having what looks like a few days of growth from chin to sideburns. Maybe Iām wrong, this is the first part of any of this that feels āpunishable.ā
November 1st, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
I agree it seems far fetched and the pictures don't prove anything. But everything is trending toward it was actually him (Brian's strong belief that it is, McElwain's response here, no other person coming forward).
The good news is, this doesn't change much for Michigan. We were already making the argument with the NCAA that he was a rogue staffer and none of his superiors knew. Literally nothing has changed. This is the same offense he was already accused of. They were never arguing that it was a gray area. Perhaps this is the reason why.
November 1st, 2023 at 8:25 AM ^
Thanks for nothing Jim. You didn't have to go out of your way to say how horrible a crime it is. You're not under investigation, okay?
It's kind of odd how no one has actually on the record, out loud confirmed that it's Stalions and yet everyone talks about it as though it is confirmed. I mean, McElwain there seems to discuss it like it's definitely Stalions and the question is how, not who.
November 1st, 2023 at 8:44 AM ^
Iām starting to wonder if CS raised the Colorado locker room. The guy is everywhere, has access to everything, and is obviously a master of disguise.
November 1st, 2023 at 8:46 AM ^
So, here's the plan now: implicate CMU in this whole thing, and let the NCAA destroy the Chips instead of us. Ready? Break!
November 1st, 2023 at 8:57 AM ^
Connor must have had someone on the inside at CMU. If you look at his clothes they match the other coaches exactly, down to the shoes. Probably a GA got him the clothes and pass. So let's all focus on that for now!
November 1st, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
If Stalions was let in by some guy on their staff, he probably returned the favor for our game against Bowling Green. I think we've been vicitimized by CMU.
CMU hosted Bucknell on Sunday that weekend, so their staff was not at a game on the 16th when we played Bowling Green.
November 1st, 2023 at 8:54 AM ^
I wonder if "make Jim McElwain look like a buffoon" can be found somewhere in the Manifesto.
Re: CMU not instantly claiming the guy as one of theirs, it would be hilarious if CMU was bending some NCAA rule themselves and that's the reason they won't claim him. Almost certainly not the case, though.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:06 AM ^
Hello, everyone! Longtime MGoLurker -- my 1st post ever!
I think everyone is looking at the CMU thing the wrong way...
I WANT that dude to have been on the CMU sideline! Look, the worst case for Michigan, well, picture this:
It's late in the basement of the football building. Everything is dark except for a pool of light over the cubicle of junior analyst Stalions. In comes Coach Harbaugh with a fat envelope. "Scallion!" "Uh, it's Stalion, sir" "Whatever. Listen. I want you to take this envelope full of cash and recruit a vast network of spies..."
The BEST case for Michigan: An entry level dude trying to get ahead and score points by any means necessary. Even spending his own cash. You really think a guy who would disguise himself as the coach of another team and stand on the sidelines DURING A GAME wouldn't use his own money to buy some tickets? The more nuts this guy is, the better!
November 1st, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
Frist off, welcome, I too was a long time MGoLurker.
Second, my concern is the entwinement with CMU. Albert Karchnia was with CMU right before UM and Stallions gets a pass. I mentioned this further down the thread. I just don't like that connection. Gives me at least a pause. Clearly hope it is just as you describe, ambitious dude doing anything and everything to get ahead.
Third, any idea where I can get a deal on some shower curtain rings?
November 1st, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
Some teenagers bought 'em all. But I can offer you a deal on some slightly used pillows.
Where to I go to redeem my MGoPoint? I assume there are valuable prizes?
November 1st, 2023 at 3:33 PM ^
There are, but it's like an arcade at the beach: it takes an insane amount of them to get a prize. I'm only halfway toward getting a ball and jacks.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
Occam's Razor: why not buy a ticket in the first 10 rows and do your dastardly deeds from a slightly better vantage point? Why risk the Scooby Doo villain routine?
November 1st, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
Thatās one of the reasons I donāt think itās really stalions in that pic. The much easier thing to do would have been to purchase a ticket roughly where he normally did, even if he was going to be there in person for that game.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:23 AM ^
I have a feeling he is friends with someone on the staff and they didn't know he had recently become a part of the M coaching staff or something, and now they are trying to avoid talking about it because they know they are screwed. It's the only explanation I can think of on why he would get that access and no one would question it. The photos are very obviously him though, people trying to deny that are delusional.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:19 AM ^
I still donāt think itās stalions but rather itās some CMU assistant or GA and that CMU is just trying to positively identify their guy as the one in the photos. It would be a bad look for them if they came right out initially and said itās their guy only to find out later that it really was stalions. CMU is just trying to cover their own a** on this.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
What is more likely:
- Guy on CMU's staff is on the sidelines wearing sunglasses at night and hides his face whenever a play comes toward him on the sideline and CMU, made aware of this story on Monday night, puts out a statement on Tuesday saying they're looking into it, has their entire staff together for a game for all day Tuesday, still can't get to the bottom of who the person is who is on their staff being flashed everywhere across ESPN and social media, plays their game, has McElwain say after the game that they're still trying to figure it out, or:
- It's not someone on their staff?
November 1st, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
This is not a great look. Karschnia was the director of recruiting at CMU before coming back to UM and somehow Stallions gets a sideline pass to a CMU game at Michigan State? I am not a conspiracy theorist type guy, but this seems like a pretty big coincidence, no?
Hope I am wrong, but this does mess with my previous lone wolf theroy.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
But McIlwain said he didn't have a pass, he wasn't on the list. I have to think they went through the list and identified everyone so even a fake name would've raised a red flag.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:52 AM ^
It appears he had a pass, but just a generic sideline pass. apparently those passes are not suppose to allow you between the 20s? I don't know this for sure, as I have never had a sideline pass to anything but I have noticed guests on the sidelines are not in the team area.
November 1st, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Unless itās been photoshopped the pass on the guy very clearly indicates he has bench access. I guess he could have made a fake one. Maybe he spent resources putting together or obtaining the outfit down to the shoes. I guess he could have done that risking that NO coach, GA, analyst, or trainer would have been like, āwho are you? Get out of hereā and alerted or checked with security.
All that instead of buying a seat like he did for (at least) 30 other games. Or maybe CMU knows more than they are saying.
I had a sideline pass for outside the 20s from ESPN back when I was in college. I wandered over to the Penn State bench area and saw McQueary, Joe Paterno and Jay Paterno from like 50 feet away. Within 5 minutes a uniformed police officer checked my credentials and told me I had to stay outside the 20 yard line. Maybe Stalionās outfit fooled security (without anyone else asking about him) maybe the cops were extra vigilant for me because 9/11 was recent all new stadium protocols were being enforced. Who knows? Still inconceivable that the biggest control freaks in society (college football coaches and those who aspire to be) could let an unknown infiltrate.
November 1st, 2023 at 12:28 PM ^
That's the part that makes me nervous. Seems like this would be tough to pull off on your own. Maybe you can get on the sideline, but staying the entire game? I would be surprised if he did not have some help, whether anyone helping knew what he was up to is a different question.
November 1st, 2023 at 3:35 PM ^
Didn't an SI article claim Stalions allegedly gain access to student grades at Navy by acting as if the head coach gave him permission? If that story is true then it seems he is perfectly capable of lone wolfing something such as getting on the sidelines as well.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:32 AM ^
I used to work at an ad agency in downtown Chicago years ago, an all glass building. A fellow employee got caught masturbating while standing in one of the windows one weekend. He was facing a hotel and one of the guests saw him and counted the floors and then the windows so security knew what office he was in. The guy was fired. Different circumstance because he wasn't doing it in service of the company like Stalions was, but people do crazy shit in their off hours and their employer may know nothing about it. We all wondered how long it had been going on before he got caught, and what else he was doing in there on the weekend.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
This is easily the craziest analogy I've seen in some time and yet it works perfectly in the situation. Amazingly done.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:50 AM ^
Yes, but how are we going to get Stalions to Chicago without it involving Northwestern?
November 1st, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^
There is no doubt people do crazy shit and no one would have any idea about how damn crazy they are until said crazy shit is discovered. That will be true until the end of man(woman)kind.
November 1st, 2023 at 9:56 AM ^
So there still isn't confirmation about who that guy was and if it was Stalions or not? I feel like the pendulum keeps swinging wildly from "obviously it was him" to "of course it wasn't".
November 1st, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
To me, it obviously isn't someone on CMU's staff since they can't seem to identify who it is.
So if it's not someone on their staff, then it seems like it's probably Stalions because who else would it be?
November 1st, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
I mean, in a vast network, the possibilities are near endless. Could take a while to figure out the true identity.
November 1st, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^
It's pretty funny to me that CMU's story is that they had no idea the dude was there or who he was. I mean it's a bit like Joe Colombo claiming he's a legitimate Italian-American businessman who's being harassed by the FBI. It may be outlandish, but you gotta prove in court it isn't true.
Of course, it is highly advantageous for us to run with the 'we all were duped' angle as well. If they can't prove otherwise, then that's the story.
The key to surviving an NCAA investigation is to isolate the rule breaker and insulate the key decision makers from knowledge.
November 1st, 2023 at 10:21 AM ^
Am I the only person who's unconvinced the guy in the pic was Stalions? I mean, guys with effete facial hair on the sidelines at football games is a pretty generic look...
November 1st, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
Shark fucker!
November 1st, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
People are going full RCMB conspiracy theory in this thread. If you look at a side by side of that photo from CMU and the photos from the following day at ECU, you can clearly see that it is him. IDK why or how he is there, but he is. All he had to do was shave. He probably thought he was clever, but as we know from everything that has come out, he isn't.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mgoblog/53165028978/in/album-72177720310912171/
November 1st, 2023 at 10:36 AM ^
Same earshape, same jawline, same nose, even has his mouth hanging open in the same way.
November 1st, 2023 at 10:48 AM ^
I don't see it. He had hair in his jawline at the ECU game but not the night before. That's some really hair club for men growth.
November 1st, 2023 at 10:55 AM ^
So whats more likely?
1. It's someone who isn't CS, but CMU doesn't know who it is and he happens to look a lot like CS.
or
2. its CS
Come on people