The most infamous man in college football is no longer in college football.
Michigan has fired Connor Stalions, multiple outlets reported Friday evening.
The move comes as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti met with U-M president Santa Ono amid an unrelated visit to the Michigan campus, and after ADs and coaches at other Big Ten institutions put significant pressure on Petitti to act against the Wolverines.
A 2016 Naval Academy graduate and a former Marine Corps captain, Stalions was a fanatical devotee of Michigan football who pieced together a 500-page manifesto in preparation of one day leading the program he'd followed his entire life (both of Stalions' parents are Michigan grads). He volunteered with Michigan throughout his time as an undergraduate, and boasted on his LinkedIn that his skills acquired in the Navy allowed him to benefit Michigan by "identifying the opponent's most likely course of action and most dangerous course of action" and "identifying and exploiting critical vulnerabilities and centers of gravity in the opponent scouting process."
In recent days it came to light that Stalions went to absurd lengths as to possibly attending Michigan State's game with Central Michigan hiding in plain sight as a member of CMU's coaching staff. Opponents and investigators uncovered a paper trail and security footage of Stalions' network of spies attending games across the Big Ten and throughout the country. That brought to mind one of the biggest unanswered questions remaining in this saga: Who paid for all this?
Painting Stalions as a rouge wolf or a lone actor would prove difficult given the voluminous evidence of him on the sidelines within arm's length of multiple Michigan coordinators on both sides of the ball, and so the move will be seen as an acknowledgment he stepped beyond NCAA rules in performing his duties.
Michigan is also under investigation for violating the NCAA's COVID recruiting dead period, for which Harbaugh has already served a self-imposed 3-game suspension, and the FBI is assisting the U-M police department in investigating the "computer access crimes" that forced the Wolverines to fire offensive coordinator Matt Weiss in January.
All the while, the football team is ranked No. 3 in the country and in hot pursuit of a third straight Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff appearance.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
The University of Michigan has fired recruiting analyst Connor Stalions, a source tells Yahoo Sports. He was previously suspended with pay during the NCAA investigation into in-person scouting.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) November 3, 2023
Source confirms Michigan has fired analyst Connor Stalions, at the center of the NCAA signal stealing investigation, as @DanWetzel first reported. I’m told Stalions did not attend a meeting with Michigan officials today, possibly on advice of his counsel.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) November 3, 2023
Friday 8:30pm et update> Michigan spokesman refutes reports that Stalions was fired, states Stalions resigned this afternoon. The statement read: “Connor Stalions resigned his position with Michigan Athletics this afternoon. We are unable to comment further regarding this personnel matter.”
Michigan spokesman, "correcting what was erroneously reported earlier," says football staffer Connor Stalions resigned this afternoon. He was not fired.
— Aaron McMann | MLive.com (@AaronMcMann) November 4, 2023