2015: Michigan hires Connor Stalions as a voluntary staffer, a position that he holds until May of 2022, when he is hired as a paid "off-field recruiting analysts", with a salary reported to be $55,000.00 a year. During this time, Stalions apparently wrote his "Michigan Manifesto", a 550 to 600 page document in which he details his love for Michigan football and his plan to take over control of the Michigan football team.
01/02/2020: Connor Stalions tweets his thanks to Michigan football coach Chris Partridge: "Thank you to the coach who took a chance & got my foot in the door at my dream school. To the family who has basically adopted me on fall weekends. To one of my best friends now, thanks for everything you've done...."
March 2022: Connor Stalions, prior to becoming a paid member of the Michigan staff, purchases a home in Ann Arbor for the sum of $485,000. Shortly after moving in, Stalions is sued by his homeowners association for operating a prohibited business (a vacuum cleaner repair operation) from his home. In court documents, Stalions essentially uses Jim Harbaugh as a character reference.
01/05/2023: The NCAA sends Michigan a draft Notice of Allegations for multiple recruiting rules violations, including a Level 1 violation by head coach Jim Harbaugh for misleading NCAA investigators.
01/20/2023: Michigan fires co-offensive coordination Matt Weiss for cause for "inappropriately access[ing]" computer accounts belonging to other people.
02/13/2023: In response to an FOIA request from the AP, Michigan releases Weiss's termination letter but refuses to release any evidence in support of his termination, citing state law exemptions to FOIA (possibly citing an ongoing investigation by campus police and the FBI).
08/12/2023: Negotiations between the NCAA and Michigan regarding punishment for Jim Harbaugh over his Level 1 infraction are terminated after the NCAA rejects a proposed 4-game suspension for Harbaugh. According to ESPN:
08/21/2023: Michigan self-imposes a 3-game suspension of Jim Harbaugh; the NCAA does not sign off on this punishment and keeps its investigation open.
08/25/2023: The Big Ten Conference retains U.S. Integrity (USI) "to enhance monitoring efforts and provide additional educational resources to help prevent student-athletes, coaches, and staff from engaging in prohibited sports wagering.... USI will provide integrity monitoring, educational, and social media monitoring services to the Big Ten Conference via its proprietary dashboard. USI conducts analysis across dozens of data sets to proactively identify irregular contest-level, officiating and wagering patterns."
09/01/2023: Michigan "recruiting analyst" Connor Stalions is on the Central Michigan sidelines for their Friday night game against Michigan State. Stalions is wearing Central Michigan coaching gear, has a sideline pass, and despite the lack of sunlight is wearing sunglasses that apparently contain a video recording device in the temple. The head coach for Central Michigan is Jim McElwain, who was an assistant coach at Michigan in 2018; also on the Central Michigan staff are former Michigan coaches Michael Zordich (2015-2020) and Jake Kostner (2015-2018).
09/29/2023: "Low level" football staffer Alex Yood attempts to meet a (fictional) 13-year old girl for sex. Michigan fires Yood shortly after the incident becomes public in the form of an Instagram video released by Boopac Shakur, a man who outed child predators.
10/17/2023: An "outside investigative firm" (presumably U.S. Integrity) notifies the NCAA of a potential prohibited sign-stealing scheme conducted by members of the Michigan football staff. The scheme allegedly involves Connor Stalions (and persons hired by him) attending opponents' games and filming their signs from coaches to players.
10/18/2023: The NCAA notifies the Big Ten and Michigan that it will be investigating the alleged sign-stealing scheme.
10/20/2023: Michigan places Connor Stalions on paid administrative leave.
10/23/2023: ESPN reports that Connor Stalions purchased tickets "for more than 30 games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years."
10/24/2023: Yahoo Sports reports that Connor Stalions purchased tickets for a Tennessee football game during the 2022 season; at that time, both the Volunteers and the Wolverines were potential 2022 Playoff participants (Michigan made the 2022 Playoffs, but Tennessee did not).
10/31/2023: Central Michigan begins an investigation into Connor Stalions's attendance at the aforementioned Michigan State game.
11/02/2023: In a telephone call with Michigan and the Big Ten, NCAA investigators state that they "knew and could prove" the extensive signal-stealing operation conducted by Connor Stalions.
11/03/2023: Connor Stalions resigns from Michigan and refuses to cooperate in any internal or external investigation.
11/07/2023: Evidence emerges that Connor Stalions and Michigan star running back Blake Corum are business partners in a Wyoming limited liability company. Corum lawyers up and denies any business relationship with Stalions despite government filings to the contrary.
11/10/2023: The Big Ten suspends Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season for violating the conference's Sportsmanship Policy by allegedly stealing opponents' signs: "The goal of the scheme was to gain an unfair advantage by stealing the signs of teams that the University's football team was due to play later in the season. Such misconduct inherently compromises the integrity of competition." The Big Ten presents a 13-page letter to Michigan in which it claims that the NCAA has strong evidence of sign stealing. Michigan files for a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten, claiming lack of due process and irreparable harm; the TRO hearing is set for November 17th.
11/16/2023: Michigan assistant coach Steve Clinkscale deletes his Twitter account. In unrelated news, Michigan unexpectedly drops its TRO motion on the eve of the hearing.
11/17/2023: Michigan fires assistant football coach Chris Partridge, one of Connor Stalions's best friends and the person who apparently got Stalions a job at Michigan, either for attempting to destroy computer evidence of the alleged sign-stealing operation (per Yahoo Sports) or for improperly communicating with others during an ongoing investigation, i.e. witness tampering (per Michigan press release).
11/17/2023: Yahoo reports that a Michigan booster known as "Uncle T" was at least partly responsible for funding Connor Stalions's sign-stealing operation. In unrelated news, the Champions Circle NIL collective for Michigan disassociates itself from Tim "Totchman" Smith, a major Michigan donor and former member of the Champions Circle board.
01/02/2020: Connor Stalions tweets his thanks to Michigan football coach Chris Partridge: "Thank you to the coach who took a chance & got my foot in the door at my dream school. To the family who has basically adopted me on fall weekends. To one of my best friends now, thanks for everything you've done...."
March 2022: Connor Stalions, prior to becoming a paid member of the Michigan staff, purchases a home in Ann Arbor for the sum of $485,000. Shortly after moving in, Stalions is sued by his homeowners association for operating a prohibited business (a vacuum cleaner repair operation) from his home. In court documents, Stalions essentially uses Jim Harbaugh as a character reference.
01/05/2023: The NCAA sends Michigan a draft Notice of Allegations for multiple recruiting rules violations, including a Level 1 violation by head coach Jim Harbaugh for misleading NCAA investigators.
01/20/2023: Michigan fires co-offensive coordination Matt Weiss for cause for "inappropriately access[ing]" computer accounts belonging to other people.
02/13/2023: In response to an FOIA request from the AP, Michigan releases Weiss's termination letter but refuses to release any evidence in support of his termination, citing state law exemptions to FOIA (possibly citing an ongoing investigation by campus police and the FBI).
08/12/2023: Negotiations between the NCAA and Michigan regarding punishment for Jim Harbaugh over his Level 1 infraction are terminated after the NCAA rejects a proposed 4-game suspension for Harbaugh. According to ESPN:
08/21/2023: Michigan self-imposes a 3-game suspension of Jim Harbaugh; the NCAA does not sign off on this punishment and keeps its investigation open.
08/25/2023: The Big Ten Conference retains U.S. Integrity (USI) "to enhance monitoring efforts and provide additional educational resources to help prevent student-athletes, coaches, and staff from engaging in prohibited sports wagering.... USI will provide integrity monitoring, educational, and social media monitoring services to the Big Ten Conference via its proprietary dashboard. USI conducts analysis across dozens of data sets to proactively identify irregular contest-level, officiating and wagering patterns."
09/01/2023: Michigan "recruiting analyst" Connor Stalions is on the Central Michigan sidelines for their Friday night game against Michigan State. Stalions is wearing Central Michigan coaching gear, has a sideline pass, and despite the lack of sunlight is wearing sunglasses that apparently contain a video recording device in the temple. The head coach for Central Michigan is Jim McElwain, who was an assistant coach at Michigan in 2018; also on the Central Michigan staff are former Michigan coaches Michael Zordich (2015-2020) and Jake Kostner (2015-2018).
09/29/2023: "Low level" football staffer Alex Yood attempts to meet a (fictional) 13-year old girl for sex. Michigan fires Yood shortly after the incident becomes public in the form of an Instagram video released by Boopac Shakur, a man who outed child predators.
10/17/2023: An "outside investigative firm" (presumably U.S. Integrity) notifies the NCAA of a potential prohibited sign-stealing scheme conducted by members of the Michigan football staff. The scheme allegedly involves Connor Stalions (and persons hired by him) attending opponents' games and filming their signs from coaches to players.
10/18/2023: The NCAA notifies the Big Ten and Michigan that it will be investigating the alleged sign-stealing scheme.
10/20/2023: Michigan places Connor Stalions on paid administrative leave.
10/23/2023: ESPN reports that Connor Stalions purchased tickets "for more than 30 games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years."
10/24/2023: Yahoo Sports reports that Connor Stalions purchased tickets for a Tennessee football game during the 2022 season; at that time, both the Volunteers and the Wolverines were potential 2022 Playoff participants (Michigan made the 2022 Playoffs, but Tennessee did not).
10/31/2023: Central Michigan begins an investigation into Connor Stalions's attendance at the aforementioned Michigan State game.
11/02/2023: In a telephone call with Michigan and the Big Ten, NCAA investigators state that they "knew and could prove" the extensive signal-stealing operation conducted by Connor Stalions.
11/03/2023: Connor Stalions resigns from Michigan and refuses to cooperate in any internal or external investigation.
11/07/2023: Evidence emerges that Connor Stalions and Michigan star running back Blake Corum are business partners in a Wyoming limited liability company. Corum lawyers up and denies any business relationship with Stalions despite government filings to the contrary.
11/10/2023: The Big Ten suspends Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season for violating the conference's Sportsmanship Policy by allegedly stealing opponents' signs: "The goal of the scheme was to gain an unfair advantage by stealing the signs of teams that the University's football team was due to play later in the season. Such misconduct inherently compromises the integrity of competition." The Big Ten presents a 13-page letter to Michigan in which it claims that the NCAA has strong evidence of sign stealing. Michigan files for a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten, claiming lack of due process and irreparable harm; the TRO hearing is set for November 17th.
11/16/2023: Michigan assistant coach Steve Clinkscale deletes his Twitter account. In unrelated news, Michigan unexpectedly drops its TRO motion on the eve of the hearing.
11/17/2023: Michigan fires assistant football coach Chris Partridge, one of Connor Stalions's best friends and the person who apparently got Stalions a job at Michigan, either for attempting to destroy computer evidence of the alleged sign-stealing operation (per Yahoo Sports) or for improperly communicating with others during an ongoing investigation, i.e. witness tampering (per Michigan press release).
11/17/2023: Yahoo reports that a Michigan booster known as "Uncle T" was at least partly responsible for funding Connor Stalions's sign-stealing operation. In unrelated news, the Champions Circle NIL collective for Michigan disassociates itself from Tim "Totchman" Smith, a major Michigan donor and former member of the Champions Circle board.
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