COLUMBUS, Ohio — Michigan announced Thursday that coach Jim Harbaugh will serve a three-game suspension from the Big Ten and the conference will end its investigation into a sign-stealing scheme as part of an agreement to resolve the school's lawsuit against the league.
Harbaugh was suspended last Friday by the Big Ten and Michigan hours later asked a court for an injunction and temporary restraining order. Harbaugh did not coach the team against Penn State on Saturday.
The two sides were expected in court Friday in Ann Arbor, but instead Harbaugh will serve out the remainder of the suspension, missing games at Maryland on Saturday and at home against Ohio State on Nov. 25.
"Coach Harbaugh, with the university’s support, decided to accept this sanction to return the focus to our student-athletes and their performance on the field," Michigan said in a statement. "The conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations. The university continues to cooperate fully with the NCAA’s investigation.”
The NCAA probe surfaced four weeks ago amid allegations that Michigan had used a robust in-person scouting and sign-stealing operation conducted by a low-level staffer, Connor Stalions, who has since resigned. The Big Ten said at the time it was also looking into the allegations.
The NCAA process is slow moving, but the Big Ten’s rules gave Commissioner Tony Petitti the opportunity to hand down discipline more quickly. It hit Harbaugh with a three-game suspension and the school immediately challenged the decision.
University leaders made the somewhat surprising decision to settle the case because the Big Ten would not agree to reduce the suspension to two games, the school didn’t want to drag the fight int court and negotiated for the conference to close its investigation, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke Thursday with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the school’s rationale.
Combined with a school-imposed, three-game suspension for an unrelated NCAA infractions case tied to recruiting, Harbaugh will miss half the Wolverines’ regular-season games this season, but could be back on the sideline if they make the Big Ten championship game.
Michigan is one of the favorites to win a national title and is looking for its third straight Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff appearance.
Here is what you need to know about the scandal:
STEALING SIGNS
There are no NCAA or Big Ten rules against football teams trying to decipher each other's play-calling signs. It's understood when teams square off, there will be eyes on the sidelines looking for clues.
Teams go to great lengths to protect their signals, though the exact value of having another team's signs is hard to peg. Coaches say it has become something of an epidemic in college football as no-huddle offenses became the norm.
There are, however, clear NCAA rules against in-person, advanced scouting of opponents during the season that date to the mid-1990s and were put in place because not every school could afford to do it. Using electronic equipment to record another team's signals is also banned by the NCAA.
Punishments are extremely rare; in 2015, the Big 12 Conference issued a public reprimand of then-Baylor assistant Jeff Lebby for being on the sideline during an Oklahoma game. He was suspended for the first half of Baylor's game against the Sooners in a Baylor-imposed penalty.
In this case, the Big Ten noted that both the league and the school were warned by the NCAA about the allegations — an unusual step — "due to the unprecedented scope of the then-alleged scheme,"
If it seems old school that teams still use signs to signal plays it is because the NCAA does not yet allow coach-to-player audio technology that is a familiar sight in the NFL. That so far remains off limits, also because of concerns that not all schools would end up with equitable systems.
THE MICHIGAN CASE
The allegations against Michigan center on a former low-level staffer, Connor Stalions, purchasing tickets to the games of future opponents and sending people to those games to record video of that team's signals.
The Big Ten called it “an organized, extensive, years-long in-person advance scouting scheme,” backing up earlier media reports. In announcing the penalty, Petitti described a “master spreadsheet” that included sign-stealing assignments and “monetary amounts associated with certain assigned games.”
Multiple Big Ten schools say they found records of tickets purchased in Stalions’ name to their games and surveillance video of the people sitting in those seats pointing their phones toward the field.
Photos on the internet also suggest Stalions was on the Central Michigan sideline during the Sept. 1 game against Michigan State, wearing CMU gear and sunglasses. Central Michigan said it was working with the NCAA.
Just who tipped off NCAA investigators is among the unanswered questions.
WHO IS STALIONS?
Stalions had been employed by Michigan since 2022 as a recruiting analyst. Social media accounts for Stalions identified him as a graduate of the Naval Academy and a longtime Michigan football fan.
He was suspended by the university shortly after the NCAA and Big Ten acknowledged the school was being investigated. Two weeks later, he resigned, saying through his lawyer that neither Harbaugh nor any member of his coaching staff told anyone to break any rules or were aware of improper conduct regarding the recent allegations of advanced scouting.
The university's full statement can be read here: "This morning, the University, Coach Harbaugh, and the Big Ten resolved their pending litigation. The Conference agreed to close its investigation, and the University and Coach Harbaugh agreed to accept the three-game suspension. Coach Harbaugh, with the University's support, decided to accept this sanction to return the focus to our student-athletes and their performance on the field. The Conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations. The University continues to cooperate fully with the NCAA’s investigation."