Soon after initiating the text exchange, Connor Stalions began bragging about his relationships to the Michigan football team: “I’m close with the whole staff,” he stated. In particular, he claimed to have “became close with CP and Jay Harbs,” perhaps alluding to the son of head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is currently the linebackers coach Chris Partridge and the assistant special teams coach Jay Harbaugh, who coaches running backs.
“Ahead of the game, I stole opponent signals while watching TV copies, and I flew to the game and stood next to [the offensive coordinator for Michigan at the time, Josh Gattis] to tell him what coverage/pressure he was gettin,” Stalions said.
These texts are a part of a long exchange between Stalions and a former student at a Power 5 school who was trying to get into college football in January and February of 2021. Interpreting rivals’ signals from television video is the particular act Stalions mentioned, and it is not prohibited by NCAA regulations. But in the past week, the now-suspended Michigan staff member has become well-known throughout the college football world due to allegations and reports that he planned a complex plot to send unidentified associates into Michigan’s opponents’ stadiums to scout and, in some cases, record the opposing coaches’ signals—both actions that are strictly forbidden.
The former Power 5 student gave Sports Illustrated access to the whole text exchange, confirming the source of the messages by deleting Stalions’s name from his contacts list and exposing a phone number. On the WhitePages public database, Stallion’s name was associated with the number. When SI texted and called the number, there was no reply. Text conversations between Stalions and the student paint a clear picture of his goals, showing an ambitious coach who is passionate about supporting Michigan while also pursuing his own career and eventually taking the program’s helm.
A representative for Michigan stated that the school, Jim Harbaugh, Jay Harbaugh, and Partridge had nothing further to say in light of the current NCAA inquiry. According to statements made by the university, Michigan is “fully cooperating with the Big Ten and NCAA” and “committed to the highest ethical and integrity standards for all members of the community.”
Additionally, Jim Harbaugh has stated that he did not give any staff members instructions to engage in off-campus reconnaissance and that he is unaware of any scheme to unlawfully steal signals. He declared, “I do not support or tolerate anyone breaking any laws or NCAA regulations.” Maryland’s offensive coordinator at this time is Gattis. The university refused to provide him for interview.
SI was unable to independently verify Stalions’s assertions on his interactions with Michigan coaches. However, a number of images of him showing him in prominent spots on the Wolverines’ sideline have surfaced in recent days. Examining Stalions’s since-deleted Venmo account revealed that Jay Harbaugh did, in fact, send money to Stalions in 2017; the message line had the O.K. hand gesture emoji, but neither the amount nor the reason for the transfer were stated.
Stalions, a native of Michigan, began working with the Wolverines in the spring of 2022. According to ESPN, Stalions claimed on his since-deactivated LinkedIn page that he assisted Michigan football as a volunteer assistant beginning in 2015 and served as a Marine from 2017 to 2022 in an effort to establish a foundation for his future profession. He seemed to have been in that position during the text exchange.
