Eric Boggs
As the college football world awaits the NCAA’s ruling on Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal, Connor Stalions has finally spoken out in an interview with On3. And, predictably, he’s trying to spin the narrative away from Michigan’s blatant cheating while throwing baseless accusations at Ohio State. Classic deflection.
In the interview, Stalions—who was at the center of the illegal in-person scouting operation—sidestepped directly addressing the allegations. Instead, he peddled the idea that “95% of teams have 95% of teams’ signals” and claimed his role was more about protecting Michigan’s signals than stealing opponents’. Of course, that’s a convenient excuse when you’ve been caught red-handed.
“It started off with teams picking us apart in this cat-and-mouse signal game. And I would say, first of all, signals itself was like maybe 33% tops of what I did, right? I’m doing breakdowns of the defense, doing formation tendency stuff, prepping meetings for linebackers and all that, doing cutups and everything,” Stalions said. “As far as signals go, I would say maybe 95% of the value in it is protecting your own signals.”
Sure, Connor. Because we’re supposed to believe that a guy who bought tickets to over 30 different Big Ten games, sent associates to record sidelines, and allegedly had a network of people scouting future opponents was just trying to “protect Michigan’s signals.” That’s like a bank robber saying he was just testing security.
Stalions went on to claim that Michigan was the victim—because, according to him, Ohio State was supposedly stealing their signals in 2018 and 2019. He pointed to those years when the Buckeyes dominated The Game, winning 62-39 and 56-27, as evidence that Michigan had to play catch-up in the sign-stealing department.
“Ohio State was really abusing us in 2018 and 2019. I mean, every time we’re in man, they’re running mesh rail. Every time we’re in zone, they’re running the ball,” he said.
Let’s be real: Ohio State wasn’t “abusing” Michigan by stealing signs. Ohio State was “abusing” Michigan by having better players, better coaching, and simply dominating them on the field. And the idea that Ohio State was engaged in the same level of sign-stealing as Michigan is nothing more than Stalions grasping at straws to justify his own actions.
Stalions further tried to explain away Michigan’s newfound success in 2021—after two decades of getting trampled by Ohio State—as a result of Ohio State losing its ability to steal Michigan’s defensive signals.
“I remember in 2021, the first year where Coach Macdonald’s there and we have good chemistry of that red light, green light game, and he’s just waiting. And they’re waiting. And we’re just looking at each other, and our mind’s like, ‘Delay of game’s on you, buddy, so you might wanna start calling your play,’” Stalions said.
Funny how Michigan suddenly started winning when Stalions was allegedly running an in-person scouting operation, and now he wants to act like it was just about defensive play-calling timing. Michigan went from years of failing against Ohio State to suddenly dominating the rivalry overnight—right around the time these sign-stealing allegations emerged. But sure, it was just a “red light, green light” game.
Then there’s his response to former Ohio State tight end Cade Stover, who last season pointed out that Michigan seemed to know a play Ohio State was running even though the Buckeyes had never run it before. Stalions, of course, had an excuse for that, too.
“Ohio State never once changed their signaler, the live signaler, the whole season. And then when they played us, there was one play – I’m looking at the guy who’s been live the whole game, so what am I gonna like, close my eyes, like not look?” Stalions said, explaining away Michigan’s seemingly uncanny ability to know what play was coming.
What Stalions conveniently ignores is that Michigan’s operation extended beyond mere observation from the sideline. The NCAA isn’t investigating Ohio State, Penn State, or any other Big Ten school for illegal in-person scouting—just Michigan. But in typical Michigan fashion, instead of owning up to their wrongdoing, they’re trying to drag everyone else down with them.
As for his future, Stalions still claims he wants to be Michigan’s head coach one day. But he threw in a dig at Ohio State while stating that he’d never work for the Buckeyes.
“They’d be crazy to do that, because I think they would know that if I were actually at Ohio State, we would, I don’t know, go 11-0 and then take a knee when we’re down or something late in the game (against Michigan),” Stalions said.
That comment alone should tell you everything you need to know about this guy. It’s not about integrity, coaching, or even football—it’s about Michigan’s obsession with Ohio State. Even while his reputation is in tatters, Stalions can’t resist taking shots at the program that has owned Michigan for the better part of the last 20 years.
Whether he ever coaches again depends on the NCAA’s ruling, but one thing is clear: His loyalty to Michigan remains unwavering, even as he tries to rewrite history and spin the narrative to save face. And while he may predict that Ohio State and Michigan will meet twice this season, one thing remains certain—Michigan’s past two years of success will forever be tainted by this scandal, no matter how much Connor Stalions tries to distract from the truth.
