A Michigan football insider said on a radio show that the info being leaked in Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal is coming from somebody within the University.
In an interview with Morning Juice on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, New York Times best-selling author John U. Bacon said he feels a man named Jim Stapleton is providing a lot of information.
Stapleton is a UM booster who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with coach Jim Harbaugh.
In the interview, Bacon said “They’re getting leaks like crazy from the NCAA.”
“Watch a guy named Jim Stapleton,” Bacon said.
Bacon went on to explain that Stapleton “blackballed” Harbaugh when he was interviewing for the Minnesota Vikings’ head coaching position two offseasons ago.
“(Stapleton) was on the board for the Minnesota Vikings” Bacon said. “He now got himself onto the NCAA Infractions Committee and he hates Jim Harbaugh.”
At the center of this investigation is suspended Michigan staffer Connor Stalions.
ESPN confirmed that Stalions purchased tickets at 35 games across 17 stadiums, using a network of at least three people who were forwarded the game tickets.
These ESPN reports came Tuesday, a day after another ESPN report surfaced that Stalions purchased tickets on both sides of Ohio Stadium for this past Saturday’s Penn State-Ohio State game.
The day before PSU-OSU, Stalions’s name emerged in another ESPN story relating to the NCAA’s impeding investigation of Michigan for alleged sign stealing.
Michigan suspended Stalions without pay. ESPN’s Pete Thamel tweeted that, per sources, Stalions “bought tickets for more than 30 Big Ten games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years.”
Going back to Stapleton, Bacon said it “doesn’t matter who the source is or if it’s right or wrong.”
“If Michigan did it, they’ll pay a price,” he said. “That’s not the point. You can’t kill the messenger. But as far as the leaking goes, I would guarantee you that’s where it’s coming from.”
