The NCAA released their decision on Michigan's illegal scouting scandal led by Connor Stalions just a bit ago, and we've been rolling out a few different perspectives on the breaking news of the day.
While reviewing the full ruling, the NCAA made mention of the sighting of Stalions in disguise on the Central Michigan sideline during their game in East Lansing against Michigan State a handful of times.
That's a situation we've been monitoring at FootballScoop for a few years now, consistently seeking out comment from CMU officials on the matter.
Central Michigan is mentioned a total of five times in the extensive 74-page release.
Here is the first, and most notable, mention from the NCAA ruling:
On one occasion in 2023, Stalions personally engaged in-person scouting when he stood on CentralMichigan University's sideline wearing a bench pass and disguised in Central Michigan-issued coaching gear during the institution’s contest against Michigan State. According to interview statements by a former football staff member, Stalions attended that game in part to decipher Michigan State’s signals, but also to help a Central Michigan staff member with play calling.
The ruling goes on to share that Stalions, his legal team, and the NCAA "engaged in a prolonged discussion on the matter and its relation to the scouting scheme, noting that off campus, in-person scouting by staffers is a violation of NCAA bylaws.
Stalions admitted he was aware of the rule, but since he was indirectly having friends and non-Michigan staffers aid in his collection of information, he was operating in a gray area of sorts. As he shares in the Netflix Documentary, where he notes "I don't break the rules. I just walk a very fine line in the gray. I exploit the rules."
The NCAA also goes on to share that Michigan was viewing the scouting restrictions under a different lense entirely. They viewed the restrictions with an understanding that the illegal scouting section of the bylaws were financially motivated, not "adopted out of a desire to protect the integrity of the collegiate model." Michigan shared with the NCAA part of their reason in viewing the issue in that way was because, as has been previously shared, NCAA membership previously considered eliminating the bylaw in an effort to modernize the rules, However, when the topic came up most recently in 2021, they voted to keep the scouting restrictions part of the bylaws.
One of the final mentions of Central Michigan occurs on page 19, where both Stalions and Michigan agree that his presence on the sidelines of the Michigan State game is a direct violation of Bylaw 11.6.1.
A few pages later, Michigan any violations should be designated as Level II, and Stalions believed his attendance at the CMU game should be designated as a Level III violation. The NCAA panel disagreed.
Level I violations are classified as those that "seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model, including any violation that provides or is intended to provide a substantial or extensive competitive or other advantage."
Level II violations are "significant breaches of conduct that provide or are intended to provide more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive advantage," leaving Level III violations to be those that are "isolated or limited in nature."
All told, the NCAA found 56 instances of illegal scouting occurred, intended to provide Michigan with substantial or extensive competitive advantages, classifying them as level I violations.
Stay tuned to The Scoop as we continue to cover this.