Last night, during a coaches conference call with league commissioner Tony Petitti, Pete Thamel reports that Big Ten coaches collectively encouraged the league to take action on Michigan's illegal scouting operation that led to sign stealing.
The call lasted an hour-and-a-half, and about an hour was spent without Wolverines leader Jim Harbaugh on the line so that coaches could speak freely on the ongoing NCAA investigation.
Thamel notes that the tenor of the call was both "intense and emotional."
Coaches attempted to lay out their perspective on how the scheme - spearheaded by Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions worked - and just how much of an impact it had while on the call.
"The tenor of the call was asking the Big Ten to show leadership - the conference and the presidents. An unprecedented violation of the rules would require unprecedented action from the Big Ten," Thamel says one source shared.
The NCAA investigation has been underway for nearly two weeks now, and while coaches understand that NCAA investigations tend to go far longer than expected, the Big Ten could act now as it has the authority under their Sportsmanship Policy.
While it seems unlikely it would happen while the NCAA investigation takes place, the Big Ten could decide to punish either Michigan as a whole, or members of the staff.
With the ball in the Big Ten's court now after hearing from their constituency of coaches, it will be interesting to see whether Petitti and the league are truly interested in taking action, or if they were simply "checking the box" in listening to the league's coaches.
Adam Rittenberg added some additional perspective in a tweetsthis morning that the feeling is that Petitti is "going to have to act, or he will lose the coaches and ADs."
Michigan is currently sitting at 8-0 and were #3 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.