The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2023 little success moving the ball on the Wolverines this year. On Nov. 7, the story took a twist when Michigan reported evidence to both the NCAA and Big Ten that Ohio State, Rut- gers and Purdue had "conspired" to steal and use their signs against them, as well. OSU and Rutgers, they claimed, shared U- M's signs with Purdue before the Big Ten Championship Game last year. Michigan shared that information with the Big Ten that day, including screen shots of conversations between staff- ers, copies of their plays allegedly shared between teams, and what certain calls meant, in detail. Yahoo reported Michigan was "likely to argue that there is a distinction without a true difference between what analyst Connor Stalions is accused of doing and what other Big Ten schools did in for- warding their scouting to a future oppo- nent." U-M will have grounds for a law- suit, Michigan sources involved said, and another close to the program insisted it could be worse in one way and a clear vio- lation of NCAA rules as they're written. "It's in-person scouting, and if they are giving signs to another school, they are working as a rep of that school just like some kid paid $50 by Stalions," he said. "Additionally, Ohio State and Purdue allegedly went into the Michigan game with signs they didn't acquire through the course of ascertaining them during the game." Ohio State denied wrongdoing, while Rutgers and Purdue had yet to respond. Michigan, though, seemed adamant to continue to pursue it, with some noting it was devoting "significant resources" to it. Regardless, the Big Ten proceeded on with its quest against Michigan, with Pe- titti incredibly calling it (per reports) "the biggest scandal in the conference of all time" in a league in which Jerry Sandusky at Penn State preyed on children for years and other schools have racked up multiple NCAA violations. BIG TEN TAKES UNPRECEDENTED ACTION, MICHIGAN VOWS A FIGHT The Big Ten's latest step — following through on a Harbaugh suspension — involved waiting until the last minute to do so. The coach was not on the team bus Nov. 11 when U-M made the trip from the hotel to Beaver Stadium after a Washtenaw (Mich.) County judge re- portedly postponed a request for a tem- porary restraining order, an "unusual" move, per many attorneys we've spoken with, and scheduled a hearing for Nov. 17. Michigan offensive coordinator Sher- rone Moore coached the Wolverines at Penn State that day and led an emotional 24-15 win. It ended with him in tears and giving an R-rated shoutout to Harbaugh in which he said they did it for him and thanked the players for stepping up. "I'm a pretty calm guy, but there are a lot of emotions," Moore said. "Being here six years, I feel like this place is home. What Coach Harbaugh has done for me, just giving me the opportunity to be here and this whole university, and these players, these fans … this place is like home to me, home to my family. So … it's very deep. "I wear my heart on my sleeve, work extremely hard, as we all do. So, it means a lot for us to get this win in this situation, to show that and make it about the play- ers. The players … we have elite players, an elite university, and I'm just so happy for them." The conference actually suspended Harbaugh the Friday afternoon before the game — while the team was on a plane en Senior edge Jaylen Harrell and many other Michigan players wore the "Michigan –Vs– Everybody" team mantra on the trip to Penn State. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY