Latest updates from Balas
I'm skeptical of him as a reporter but I paid for a subscription to share with those who find him credible.
The rule the Big Ten is accusing Michigan of is advance scouting of a future opponent
Michigan is expecting a "season" suspension of Harbaugh"(not clear, if that means the remainder of season, or next year games as well)
A potential Harbaugh suspension would include College Football Playoff games as well.
If the injunction is denied Michigan can appeal immediately.
Connor Stallions was working on behalf of Central Michigan when he was on their sidelines. However, "he's still a Michigan employee advance scouting a future opponent."
He believes the sign stealing collusion against Michigan story will gain traction after coaches names are revealed. He doesn't know if the information was illegally obtained but sharing signs is against big ten rules.
He believes Ryan Day is not in the clear regarding the PI firm, the NCAA doesn't care about it and haven't investigated it. Michigan is adamant on gathering evidence and proving that he was involved.
ESPN requested 50 tickets to the Michigan -Ohio State game and he thinks Michigan will decline their request.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^
the first one didn't work apparently
I think it's working, but might take another info dump or two. Once actual head coaches are attached to the collusion, the B1G might relent to save face for all involved. Ohio State folks have already gone from calling this worst scandal ever to backing down and calling it a technical violation, as they're clearly starting to worry about what else UM has in their back pocket.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
and we don't know the timing of who has received what and when
November 7th, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
I remain skeptical anything affecting this season actually holds up. Seems like M is armed and ready to fight back in court right away with good legal standing to do so.
Keep kicking the can down the road, the fire will die down and more details of how shady and collusive this effort has been will emerge. They'll deal with next year next year.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
Depending on when the announcement drops, the PSU game is certainly in jeopardy, or any game if timed correctly!
November 7th, 2023 at 2:12 PM ^
Yeah... true. If they decide he can't coach against Penn State on say Saturday morning, what can we do about it? I remain hopeful they have good standing to obtain a TRO if B1G tries anything but timing could gum that up.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^
How does this not affect this season?
The B1G is in charge of officiating these games.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:11 PM ^
Basing that on seeming like we have our ducks in a row to be granted a TRO. I could certainly be over-optimistic there.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:42 PM ^
didnt the Baylor coach get 1/2 a game suspension after being in the sidelines of a future opponent?
November 7th, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
The coach who actually did it, yes. Certainly didn’t suspend the HC for a season.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:44 PM ^
Fuck it, if the Big Ten or the NCAA actually try and suspend Harbaugh before any actual investigation, then Michigan should 100% just ignore it and let him keep coaching.
Fuck the Big Ten and fuck the NCAA.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:14 PM ^
This is where I am confused....NCAA just said there are no ties to Harbaugh and CS, so...what are we doing here?
November 7th, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^
A "sportsmanship" clause lets them just make up what they want. That's insane.
This entire country was formed based on rule of law not men.
The Big Ten needs to reform that law or it will be an anarchy of factions always fighting each other to influence the "ruler".
November 7th, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^
NCAA also added a rule where they can punish the head coach for the actions of an assistant coach. But, that's an NCAA rule, not a B1G rule.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
agree. Ignore it. That's what all the SEC teams do.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:48 PM ^
Threaten to leave the conference. That'll pucker Pettiti's asshole
November 7th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^
Stalions knew what he was doing in gaining access to CMU’s sideline in an official capacity, and that shouldn’t be ignored, but how many people at CMU failed to notice the obvious conflict of interest of having someone officially employed by Michigan at your game against MSU?
Or, perhaps the more simple answer is that they did know, but thought it would be such a minor technicality that they let it slide.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
If there isn't a rule against working for two schools - which I don't believe there actually is - then I don't see how the NCAA (or the Big Ten) can actually say something about that at all. PLENTY of people contract to competitors in the business arena (and, note that CMU isn't a competitor of Michigan, so it's not a conflict of interest). If he was in fact there working for CMU then he wasn't "in person scouting" MSU for Michigan.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^
I said this in a thread yesterday --- if one could show CMU also hired Stalions for a 2022 game, where the CMU opponent wasn't a future U-M opponent, then it's much much much easier to say "he wasn't in-person scouting MSU for Michigan at that 2023 MSU game."
There were 5 CMU games in 2022 where (1) U-M wasn't playing the same day (nor the day before and after) and (2) the CMU opponent wasn't on U-M's future schedule. 4 of those games were easily drivable from Ann Arbor. So, there was opportunity.
If CMU/U-M/Stalions have that "receipt" --- I'd 100% say they're all clear on this particular front. If they have the "receipt", now is the time to show it.
The ultimate questions --- IMO --- in this whole story boil down to (1) whether Stalions' scouting operations were funded by U-M, and (2) what he was doing on that CMU sideline, if that was him. Everything else is just noise.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
I think I agree with your last point. It seems as though that (1) has been fairly definitively answered by the NCAA as "No." As for (2) - I don't know how relevant that really is. The NCAA seems to have concluded his operations weren't funded by UofM, and yesterday's AP story seems to make it seem that coaches having relationships re: sign stealing is "no big deal" to most of the Big Ten, and finally Stalions no longer works for UofM. M was reportedly treating his "vast network" as him in-person scouting, not a gray area of the rules - so this doesn't really change anything in that regard either.
This is mostly a weird detail and possibly an issue for CMU. But it doesn't really change anything about (1) and so with respect to Michigan, it is also just noise.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:50 PM ^
If he was working for CMU, it doesn't matter what he was doing there. Show me the rule that says someone cannot work for two universities at the same time.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:29 PM ^
But let's imagine this. Ohio State had a bye week on September 30 --- Ryan Day himself shows up on the Nebraska sideline (for the Michigan game). He's moonlighting for Nebraska for a day.
Would U-M fans and the U-M program have been fine with that?
Probably not.
A Michigan football employee subcontracting for another school, when that school's opponent is a downstream Michigan opponent (that latter phrase is the important part here) - that's a questionable look, even in the best of circumstances. I understand why MSU (and others) is not happy with that.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
CMU subcontracting him does not make him an "un-employee" @ Michigan. It doesn't work that way, it's conflict of interest.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^
That's only relevant IF Michigan has a provision that limits the outside work of their employees. Plenty of people work for multiple companies in the same field.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^
A potential Harbaugh suspension would include College Football Playoff games as well.
How does the B1G have authority to do this? CFP games are not under the B1G's jurisdiction, right?
November 7th, 2023 at 1:53 PM ^
No, but I'm sure they'd use that as grounds to fine Michigan, extend Harbaugh's suspension, etc.
But all that notwithstanding, would still love to see them run him out there anyway for the schadenfreude factor.
EDIT to add knock on wood
November 7th, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
I and others have stated this, he hasn't said anything back yet.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:20 PM ^
I have a feeling that the CFP would honor disciplinary action from the NCAA or Big Ten.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
yea this is a threat that's more believable than TV appearances. TV revenue and suspensions are what they'd actually do, and both would result in a legal battle, and frankly should lead to M leaving the league if they do try that. It's not only unprecedented, it's also unwarranted.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
Burn it all down. Tell Pettiti that he might take us down, but everyone is coming with us.
November 7th, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^
In-person scouting is exactly what the other coaches (not low-level staffer) did before sharing the spreadsheets.
Then they shared information, breaking a second rule.
Michigan HAS to leave the B1G at this point. They will not get fair treatment from the officials or the league going forward.
I am now (more) convinced the B1G was behind the 2016 "spot game" and expressly told the officials to tilt the field.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^
So we know that SOME of the 13 - "vast majority" isn't "unanimous" - didn't support any in-season actions. I am a believer that M most likely stays in the Big Ten, but it would require the Big Ten to back down. And there are some other schools that would be willing to. I wonder how much that number grows after yesterday's story.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
I don't think the other schools are afraid of Michigan's mud slinging because the entire purpose of this idiocy is to get rid of Harbaugh. They know that the Big 10 will not act on Michigan's revelations and punish Illinois etc. because Illinois etc. doesn't have Harbaugh. This is personal for whatever reason.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:00 PM ^
I guess I don't fully understand Pettiti's motivations. It's pretty clear at this point to any neutral observer that whatever rules M broke, they were functionally not different from what Purdue, Rutgers and OSU did. We know Illinois is likely included in this ring too based on some insider articles and confirmations from Bielema and Walters that they had our signs.
If other coaches wanted to get rid of Harbaugh and duped Pettiti, fine. But why would he want to anger one of his 2 best revenue drivers? Especially when they're nationally relevant and his league's best shot at more prestige? If he's a rational actor, he can say "based on information released this week, we will wait until the NCAA concludes its process before any action." Otherwise he's...not suited for his job, at the very least.
Also, if I were him and I went out on a limb against one of my best teams only to have the ground cut from under me by this, I'd be LIVID. If he's a rational actor, he should be holding some AD's and coaches' feet to the fire at their next conference call.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:01 PM ^
As the old saying goes, Fuck 'em. They bitches. Might as well turn away anyone from The Athletic too.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:03 PM ^
Season long suspension!?!? Fuck this dirt bag conference
November 7th, 2023 at 2:03 PM ^
Other sites are calling Balas Blue Anon and Michigan the Q of M. I hate this bull too, but we need to snap back to reality or the brand is going to be damaged severely.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^
Big Ten Members:
November 7th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^
The brand is already damaged by two weeks of non stop drip drip of "sources say". Not a single person outside of UofM will not call us cheaters no matter what information comes out, the damage is already done.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
Conspiracies have been orchestrated since the beginning of time. Many, many have come to light. There are laws against them. This nonsense about believing in "conspiracies" makes one "crazy" only helps those that perpetrate them.
Someone hired the PI firm and brought the info to the NCAA and B1G.
The B1G went to Michigan's opponents before going to Michigan.
This is a conspiracy by definition. Call me whatever names you want, it doesn't change the facts.
It takes less than an ounce of critical thinking skills to see what's happening here, unfortunately many people don't even have that.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:04 PM ^
If they want a full season, or anything more than two games, don't they need the approval of the presidents of the universities? Has that even happened yet?
November 7th, 2023 at 2:05 PM ^
"ESPN requested 50 tickets to the Michigan -Ohio State game and he thinks Michigan will decline their request."
I would like to see the pictures of faces in Bristol, Connecticut if this happens.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
Tell Pat Macaffe and his 200 mg a day habit of Adderall and Oxycodone to kick rocks. He & his little roided up buckeye co-host are saying Michigan shouldn't get a playoff spot if found guilty of ss.
This shite is getting out of control
November 7th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
I would like to see the pictures of faces in Bristol, Connecticut if this happens.
They will be easy to find, they will all be in Bristol, Connecticut. That dying cable network can't afford 50 tickets to Michigan - Ohio State.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
I would like to see the pictures of faces in Bristol, Connecticut if this happens.
They will be easy to find, they will all be in Bristol, Connecticut. That dying cable network can't afford 50 tickets to Michigan - Ohio State.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
If sharing signs is against Big Ten rules, then every single head coach for every program that participated in sharing Michigan's signs should also be facing a season-long suspension including any playoff or bowl games.
Otherwise fuck off.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
Fuck you Fuck you Fuck you, you're cool Desmond! And Fuck you again ESPN!
November 7th, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
My 86 year old mother called me last night and said she wanted to talk to me about the "witch hunt against Harbaugh."
AT 86 EVEN SHE UNDERSTANDS IT!!!
November 7th, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
promote that woman
November 7th, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
Ono probably made it known that Michigan intends to leave the conference thus it doesn’t matter what Michigan digs up. The BIG will do whatever they want to us bc they know the end result. No way Michigan stays after all of this. There’ll be no trust, respect or joy in representing the BIG. Therefore none of this shit matters and they’ll suspend Harbaugh. They’re in way too deep at this point and won’t back off.