How Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal has affected their football program

The University of Michigan has featured one of the premier college football programs in recent years and of all time. An unflattering scandal threatened to derail their 2023 season, and has been an underlying plot to the Wolverines’ aims to win the national championship. We’ll take a look at the scandal itself, how it’s hindered the program, and how it might even help them moving forward.

The program was accused of stealing opposing team’s signs via prohibited means. A “recruiting analyst” named Craig Stallions allegedly sent his friends to the games of future Michigan opponents to film their sideline from the stands. A Michigan booster nicknamed “Uncle T” supposedly worked with Stallions to fund the covert operation.

The Big 10 conference caught wind of what they were doing, and delved into the process Stallions used. It’s common practice for teams to watch the opposing sideline like a hawk, or utilize game film to get an edge in this department, but Michigan had taken it too far. The Big 10 ascertained that linebackers coach Chris Partridge destroyed the illegal footage that Stallions obtained.

Partridge and Stallions resigned from the program in November, but the Big 10 wanted to levy additional punishment to the program. The conference may have looked at other sign-stealing scandals in the NFL and different sports to help gauge what a fitting penalty would be for the Wolverines.

To the surprise of many, the Big 10 suspended head coach Jim Harbaugh for the remaining three games on the conference schedule. The conference felt that Harbaugh should have known about the sign-stealing operation even if he didn’t, and acted more swiftly than fans ever expected.

In the midst of an undefeated season, Michigan could have folded under the unexpected adversity. Harbaugh said that the Wolverines would become America’s team for the rest of the year, thinking that he and his players were unfairly punished. Sherrone Moore was elevated to interim head coach in Harbaugh’s absence.

The Wolverines would proceed to defeat Penn State and Maryland on the road, and then took down Ohio State at the Big House. It’s hard to say whether Michigan would have won these games anyway with Harbaugh on the sideline, but it seems like the program responded to the message Moore had in his place.

While it seems like the scandal hasn’t stopped the Wolverines from playing good football, there’s a perception tax that a team pays when something like this takes place. The New England Patriots are still associated with Spygate, which was a similar attempt to record practices of opposing teams. Michigan might be associated with underhanded tactics for years to come.

It doesn’t appear as if the Big 10 is interested in punishing Michigan in future seasons, which helps the program conduct business as usual from a recruiting standpoint. It was reported by FOX Sports insider Jay Glazer that NFL teams don’t view the scandal as a huge demerit for Harbaugh, which means he wouldn’t have to answer questions about that if he wanted to coach in the pros again.