Michigan spying scandal takes BIZARRE twist as Wolverines football website claims rival Ohio State coach Ryan Day ‘hired private investigators to probe sign-stealing allegations’

A curious new report claims that the University of Michigan is in possession of documents linking rival Ohio State football coach Ryan Day to a privately funded investigation into espionage allegations against the Wolverines football team.

However, the report does not come from an independent news source, but rather from a Michigan fan page: TheWolverine.com by On3.

“Several sources in Michigan and in the media tell TheWolverine.com that they are gathering evidence on two private investigators they believe are behind the investigation into alleged illegal on-site scouting at UM,” the report said. “The same sources also believe the two are responsible for the media leaks that kept the story in the news for weeks.”

TheWolverine.com claims both investigators have family ties to Day and names his brother Tim as one of the PIs.

Connor Stals, the low-level Michigan football executive at the center of an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing and alleged scouting irregularities, resigned Friday. The NCAA is investigating Michigan for allegedly sending Stalion, and possibly other personnel, to opponents’ games to record video that would be used to decode their in-game signals.

“We know for a fact they were at some of our games,” Purdue coach Ryan Walters said on his radio show Thursday. “We had to teach our boys a new language.”

If Wolverine.com’s report is true, it may not have any impact on the allegations against Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Spokespeople for Ohio State and Michigan did not immediately respond to Mail Sport’s request for comment.

Although the information has not yet been proven, many believers in Michigan already consider it gospel truth.

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports and a Michigan graduate, echoed a similar report 247Sports’ Michigan site.

“You mean Third Base (his derisive nickname for Ryan Day) hired his own brother to investigate Michigan because he can’t beat us?” Portnoy said on a recent podcast.

‘That’s what the internet is saying at the moment. I mean, who would hire a private company to investigate a college football team and snitch on them? It’s almost too logical.’

The NCAA’s investigation will likely extend beyond the college football season, which ends Jan. 8 with the national championship game in Houston.

With that in mind, ESPN’s Pat McAfee took aim at the NCAA over the scandal.

Speaking at Saturday’s College Game Day, McAfee said football fans would be “excited to move forward” with the scandal, while adding that if Michigan cheated, “we know the NCAA will get them around 2030 or so .

Earlier Friday, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti met with Michigan President Santa Ono and athletics director Warde Manuel as the conference weighed whether to punish the Wolverines football program for its scouting and sign-stealing program. Big Ten spokeswoman Diane Dietz confirmed that Petitti had met with Ono and Warde, but did not provide details.

Harbaugh, who served a university-imposed three-game suspension earlier this season for an unrelated and still unresolved NCAA recruiting violation case, has denied any knowledge or involvement in impermissibly scouting opponents.

Stalions’ attorney said in a statement to The Athletic that his client has chosen to resign because stories about him have caused a distraction for the second-ranked Wolverines, who host Purdue on Saturday night and are among the favorites to win the reach the College Football Playoff.

He also cleared Harbaugh of any wrongdoing.

‘Connor would also like to make it clear that, to his knowledge, neither coach (Jim) Harbaugh nor any other coach or staff member told anyone to break the rules or was aware of any inappropriate behavior regarding the recent allegations of advanced scouting,” the lawyer said. said Brad Beckworth.

Stalions said in a statement to The Athletic that he loved Michigan and was grateful for the opportunity to work with Harbaugh.

“I don’t want to be a distraction from what I hope will be a championship run for the team, and I will continue to cheer them on,” Stalion said in his first public comments since the scandal broke two weeks ago.

A person with knowledge of the situation initially told AP that Stalions, who had been suspended with pay, had been fired. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Michigan does not make public internal personnel movements, also said Stalion did not show up for a scheduled hearing on Friday and informed the school through his attorney that he would not participate in any internal or external investigations.

Stalions was listed as a recruiting analyst for Michigan and had a LinkedIn account that said he had been hired by the football program in 2022. Stalion is a graduate of the Naval Academy.

Multiple Big Ten schools have reportedly found records of tickets purchased in Stalion’s name for their games and surveillance video of the people sitting in those seats pointing their cellphones at the field. Photos online suggest Stalion was on the Central Michigan sideline during the Sept. 1 game against Michigan State, wearing CMU gear and sunglasses.

Central Michigan football coach Jim McElwain said after the Chippewas game earlier this week that Stalion’s name was not on his team’s passing list to have sideline access for the game. The Wolverines played and defeated rival Michigan State 49-0 last month.

The Big Ten bylaws provide the commissioner with the ability to act more quickly on matters of sportsmanship and competitive integrity. Petitti met with Big Ten coaches and athletic directors via video call earlier this week. Coaches expressed anger and frustration and encouraged the conference to take action against Michigan, two people with knowledge of those meetings said.

The ADs, with the exception of Manuel, discussed possible punishments Petitti could consider — mainly focusing on suspending Wolverines coaches, starting with Harbaugh — but no decisions were made, one of the people said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the Big Ten did not make public its internal discussions about the Michigan case.

Michigan (8-0) is heavily favored to beat Purdue. Next week, Michigan faces No. 11 Penn State and then Maryland for the regular-season finale against rival No. 3 Ohio State on Nov. 25. The games against Penn State and Ohio State will determine who represents the East Division in the Big. Ten championship game on December 2 in Indianapolis.

Petitti, who has been on the job since May after taking over when Kevin Warren left to lead the Chicago Bears, indicated to Big Ten coaches and ADs that he might meet with them again on Sunday if an update is needed used to be.