The sordid tale of former top Michigan football assistant coach Matt Weiss, who served as Jim Harbaugh's co-offensive coordinator and also had previously worked in the NFL for John Harbaugh, had multiple key developments Monday -- which included that Weiss turned himself into authorities.
Multiple Detroit-area news outlets reported that Weiss turned himself in inside the United States Federal Court in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday.
A Vanderbilt graduate and former Commodores walk-on player who never appeared in a game for the program, Weiss has been charged with 14 counts of unauthorized computer access and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft.
Also on Monday, it was revealed that a pair of former Michigan female student-athletes had filed suit against the school and intended to sue for unspecified damages.
The lawsuit targets both the University of Michigan and its Board of Regents, alleging that their inability to have adequate oversight or control of Weiss is paramount in culpability.
"(Weiss's) ability to [hack into accounts and servers, sharing intimate, personal photos and individual data] was aided by the University and the Regents," a portion of the lawsuit showed. "Both of whom permitted him to have access and use of electronic credentials that were means of viewing and downloading personal, private, and intimate images of Plaintiffs and others similar to them."
Both the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI delivered damning statements against Weiss when formal charges were revealed last week.
"Our office will move aggressively to prosecute computer hacking to protect the private accounts of our citizens," Julie Beck, acting U.S. Attorney, said last week when Weiss was charged.
Weiss served on Jim Harbaugh's Michigan staff as quarterbacks coach from 2021-22 and helmed the title of co-offensive coordinator as the Wolverines won the Big Ten title and advanced to the four-team College Football Playoff in 2022.
He also had coached on both offense and defense in the NFL for John Harbaugh, who hired Weiss after Weiss had gotten his biggest break in coaching on the Stanford staff of Jim Harbaugh from 2005-08.
Per the Detroit News, Weiss is alleged to have hacked into dozens of databases of schools around the United States, including that of his former employer, Michigan, as well as even a small, liberal arts Christian college:
"The case describes crimes that spanned parts of eight years and victimized athletes in Michigan, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and students at universities large — the University of Michigan — and small — including Westmont College, a private, Christian liberal arts college in California with about 1,300 undergrads."
Weiss also would have been on staff at Michigan at the same time as Connor Stalions, the disgraced former Wolverines staffer who parted with the program late-season 2023, as Michigan snapped the program's 25-year national championship drought.
Stalions was accused of an elaborate spying ring and later admitted to supplying the offensive and defensive signals of Big Ten foes to their upcoming opponents.