Michigan staffer Connor Stalions has resigned, Michigan spokesperson confirmed Friday night.
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports first reported the news that Stalions had been fired. But the official word is that it’s a resignation.
The University of Michigan has fired recruiting analyst Connor Stalions, a source tells Yahoo Sports. He was previously suspended with pay during the NCAA investigation into in-person scouting.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) November 3, 2023
Wetzel’s report was confirmed by multiple outlets.
Stalions, an ex-captain in the marines, is the alleged ringleader of the Michigan sign-stealing scandal. News of the NCAA’s investigation broke Oct. 19, and Stalions was revealed as a person of interest.
He had been suspended with pay by Michigan for exactly two weeks.
Among Stalions’s alleged offenses was buying tickets for people to illegally film games from teams both in and outside the Big Ten. These include Penn State games. Sources told ESPN days after Penn State played at Ohio State Oct. 21 that Satlions bought tickets on both sides of Ohio Stadium. Later in the week, a source went on the record with ESPN and said that Stalions paid him to scout Penn State’s 63-0 win over UMass Oct. 14, and left at halftime due to the weather.
In total, Stalions has been implicated in 30 tickets being purchased for games at 11 of the other 13 Big Ten schools.
Michigan’s head coach, Jim Harbaugh, has denied any knowledge of what Connor Stalions is said to have done, but said in a statement that he’ll cooperate with the NCAA. Harbaugh and Michigan had already been in trouble. The university self-imposed Harbaugh to be suspended for the first three games of this season due to separate Level II violations.
Michigan comes to Happy Valley next week for Saturday’s game against Penn State. That game is scheduled to kickoff at noon on Fox. Michigan is currently 8-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country. Penn State’s 7-1 and ranked No. 11.
