The Michigan Wolverines have responded to the National Collegiate Athletic Associations’ (NCAA) investigation over sign stealing allegations from the 2023 season.
In their response, the Wolverines accused the NCAA of overcharging the school despite a lack of perceived evidence against them. This was mentioning the Level I violations that centered around the program’s original plan to steal football signals from opponents that was led by former Wolverines analyst Connor Stalions.
Chargers were handed to the Wolverines for a pattern of noncompliance. Other charges were given to Stalions, former head coach Jim Harbaugh and two other Michigan football assistants.
In the program’s response, the Wolverines claimed that Stalions’ sign-stealing efforts were done legally and not in a different way. As a result, they asked the NCAA to lower their punishments to Level II, a series of infractions that are less severe than the Level I violations.
Another key finding from the investigation that the Wolverines responded to was a series of text-message exchanges head coach Sherrone Moore had deleted that were between him and Connor Stalions. It had later been revealed that the day the texts were deleted were on the day that the investigation began. Moore had claimed that he deleted the texts with Stalions as he felt that it would take away from the program’s national championship run. However, the school responded by stating that the texts did not relate to the investigation.
While the program’s response may not amount to any changes from the investigation, it was still something the Wolverines needed to do. If the NCAA were to lower the punishments to Level II violations, it would lead to more minor penalties that are seen as more common in nature. Meanwhile, a Level I violation would result in more severe penalties that threaten the integrity of the NCAA.
https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/news/michigan-football-ncaa-probe-fight
