Connor Stalions remains the unwanted gift that keeps on giving. In this case, the latest casualty is Central Michigan's football program.
Mind you, an all-new Central Michigan coaching staff with no ties to sign-stealing scandal that's already resulted in probes and penalties for the University of Michigan, which won its 2023 national championship under the Stalions cloud.
The school was issued a formal Notice of Allegations by the NCAA late last month. Matt Drinkall has an entirely new program being developed at CMU, coming off from Jeff Monken's Army program and seeking to take the Chips program back to its roots after it suffered three-straight losing seasons across the final years of Jim McElwain's tenure.
Late Tuesday afternoon, CMU officials issued a statement to FootballScoop that said the school has not gotten a formal NOA because it is cooperating with the NCAA:
"We are aware that the NCAA has updated its online infractions dashboard for parties contesting their allegations. CMU has not received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA because it is working with the NCAA toward a negotiated resolution. We have been working collaboratively with the NCAA since Fall 2023, and we look forward to bringing our matter to a fair conclusion soon."
To recap: Stalions was a low-level worker for Michigan, a volunteer who eventually climbed his way to a full-time analyst position and, per no shortage of sideline videos, became a trusted gameday confidante of Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines staff.
Among the most explosive elements of the Stalions scheme? He was seen in mild disguise and wearing Central Michigan gear on the Chippewas sideline during their early-season game at Michigan State in 2023. The Chips, under former coach McElwain, were pummeled, 31-7.
But Stalions seemingly added to his personal catalog of opposition signs and signals, though he offered a weak rebuttal on the Netlix sign-stealing documentary that he was not present on the CMU sideline. FootballScoop at the time had requested comment and documents from both CMU and the MAC regarding the probe into Stalions and largely was met with silence.
He was later separated from his Michigan employment and since has bounced around as a high school coach in the state.
Per the Detroit Free Press story, CMU received its NOA on June 27. Once a school acknowledges/confirms receipt of an NCAA NOA, the institution in question then has 90 days to issue its formal response to the NCAA.