Connor Stalions Did NOTHING Wrong
The media and NCAA unfairly maligned him
Connor Stalions, the alleged University of Michigan Football sign-stealing mastermind, is in the news yet again. This time, for a good reason: The Netflix documentary, “Untold: Sign Stealer,” is dominating the charts, currently the No. 2 most-watched movie on Netflix in America. No surprise there; Americans love football, and they love a good scandal.
But here’s what everyone refuses to spell out: Connor Stalions did nothing wrong.
OK look, maybe he traversed the gray areas of an arbitrary set of rules that, really, every major college football program seems to cross. Maybe he was too good at his job, too good at deciphering the signals other teams use to communicate their plays. Maybe he was too organized, with his meticulous spreadsheets and Google Drive folders. Maybe he was too dedicated to “the team, the team, the team,” relentlessly pursuing his lifelong dream to coach at Michigan.
But none of the allegations hold real weight under any reasonable standards of evidence. There are allegations, but no hard facts. The only fact is the former Marine was damn good at his job.
Stalions was a high achiever who systematized a shadowy, underground method of intelligence collection and deception. Before him, you get the sense that all of this happened in much more boomer ways. The occasional phone call, some journals of hand-written notes, cloistered trade secrets. He took it to the next level, with a “Rain Man”-esque attention to detail and the acuity to break the information down and organize it.
There’s nothing in the rules against deciphering opponent signs. The allegations of impropriety stem, in large part, from two accusations: that Stalions attended opponents’ games in-person to scout, and that he sent others to games to record them beyond the scope of official broadcast footage.
In-person scouting during opponents’ games is forbidden. This much is known and acknowledged. But the allegations are so flimsy. One photograph of a man on the sidelines at the MSU-CMU game in a hat, sunglasses, and goatee? Supposedly, Stalions in disguise. I don’t care what he supposedly told Dave Portnoy—prove it was Stalions, NCAA.
