Last night, Big Ten coaches held a call with commissioner Tony Petitti to voice concerns around Michigan's illegal scouting and sign stealing scandal that is dominating conversations around college football.
While coaches were able to speak their mind and felt like Michigan needed to face unprecedented discipline from the league, the sense after the call was unclear on if Petitti was willing to take things that far.
Today, Big Ten athletic directors (all except for Michigan's Warde Manuel) met with Petitti via a video call and their call took on a "distinctly different tenor" than when the two sides met a week ago, Pete Thamel shares tonight.
Thamel adds that ADs left the call with a belief that Petitti, who has been in the role since April, is taking the Big Ten's ability to punish Michigan over the allegations more seriously than previously thought.
No potential punishments were discussed, Thamel added, and Petitti brought up that he wasn't going to make a decision based on a feeling, but was focused on gathering facts before making a decision.
Among one of the more interesting points reportedly brought up on the call was from Michigan State athletic director Allan Haller, who pointed out that the last season the Big Ten forced Michigan State to suspend numerous players following their tunnel incident with the rival Wolverines before an investigation was able to finish, and that it was hypocritical that with Michigan now under investigation, the league is content with waiting for the investigation to unfold.
Even if Petitti were to decide to levy a punishment on Michigan, it would likely need to go to an executive committee to approve, deny, or lessen the suggested discipline.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.