Michigan receives NCAA sanctions for sign-stealing: Sherrone Moore suspended three games, hefty fine levied, more

The NCAA announced today Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore will be suspended 3 games and the school will pay a hefty fine as punishment for a sign-stealing operation led by former staffer Connor Stalions. Additionally, Stalions and former head coach Jim Harbaugh received show causes, Harbaugh 10 years and Stalions 8. 

Allegations initially surfaced in October 2023 that Stalions was sending people to games to scout and record other teams’ signals. He resigned as a result, while Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten for the final three games of the regular season. He was set to fight the punishment in court, and the administration seemed to have his back over the alleged lack of due process, but he eventually accepted his fate and sat while Michigan beat Penn State, Maryland, and Ohio State to finish the season. 

The Wolverines won the national championship, at which point NCAA President Charlie Baker proclaimed nobody could argue it was legitimate. 

“I don’t regret doing it because sitting on that information, given the comprehensiveness of it, I think we would have put everyone including Michigan in an awful place,” Baker said. “At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn’t win the national title fair and square. So, I think we did the right thing.”

While the title closed the book on the case for many around the country, especially after the Wolverines won at PSU and swept Ohio State, Alabama, and Washington on the way to the championship, the NCAA proceeded with its case. It culminated in a June hearing in front of the Committee on Infractions, where NCAA enforcement, Stalions, and U-M representatives presented their cases in front of a panel. 

There were indications that Michigan and the NCAA couldn’t reach an agreement while negotiating a settlement because U-M wouldn’t agree to a lengthy suspension for Moore. Instead, they left it up to the COI to determine its fate. Even Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, at the forefront in suspending Harbaugh two years ago, sent a letter on Michigan’s behalf encouraging no further punishment.

The official punishment levied per the NCAA report:

Michigan sources have said for a while they didn’t expect any postseason bans or vacated wins stemming from the events, and yesterday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel indicated the same, noting the only question seemed to be how many games Moore would be suspended. That’s how it played out. It’s up to U-M now to decide whether to appeal or accept the punishment and proceed. 

Watch TheWolverine.com for more on these developments in the hours and days to come.