Michigan will enter its new era of college football on Saturday against Fresno State, but the sign-stealing investigation that broke last October is still hanging over their heads.
On Monday, Netflix released a documentary titled”Untold Sign Stealer,” about Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions and how he stole opponents’ signals.
Not many have heard from Stalions since the news broke that he was in charge of the stealing operation last fall, but the documentary is all about how Stalions operated the entire system from his point of view, and an interesting thing came up during the first half-hour of the documentary.
Michigan’s Head Coach Jim Harbaugh Gave Connor Stalions A Game Ball
Stalions stated after Michigan’s 27-14 win against Iowa in 2022, Jim Harbaugh gave him the game ball for deciphering their opponent’s signs.
Jim Harbaugh presented Connor Stalions with a game ball in 2022. Harbaugh 100% knew what was going on pic.twitter.com/BYZRNiJJRO
— THE Bunch of Nuts Podcast (@bunch_nuts) August 27, 2024
Stalions’ job on the coaching staff was to decipher opponents’ teams’ signals, which every team in college football has. It’s not illegal to steal opponent teams’ signals from watching the game on the TV broadcast or picking up on them without using technology, but Stalions went way over the top by sending people out to record opposing teams’ sidelines, which is highly illegal.
When Harbaugh gave Stalions the game ball in 2022 for deciphering signs, it didn’t mean that Harbaugh knew he was illegally stealing signs at the time; all he could’ve known was that Stalions job was to decipher teams signs the legal way.
We could put to bed the narrative that Harbaugh, coaches, and players didn’t know what Stalions role was with the team after many of them denied they didn’t even know who he was.
Stalions seemed to have a much bigger role with the team than the program wanted to lead on during the scandal investigation.
Receiving a game ball from the head coach after a major win against Iowa means you have a major role on the team, and like it or not, Stalions was just as important as every single coach and player.
It will be interesting to see how the college football community reacts to this documentary and if they think Stalions and Michigan come off a lot better or worse.
