Michigan hit with historic fine for ‘KGB’ sign stealing, keeps 2023 national title

The University of Michigan was hit with one of the largest fines in NCAA history for the sign-stealing scandal run by former defensive assistant Connor Stalions. The punishment ends a nearly two-year investigation into the football program and will not include a postseason ban.

What penalties did the NCAA hand down?

Michigan will face probation and a series of fines that could add up to between $20 million and $30 million over the next two seasons after the NCAA Committee on Infractions found “overwhelming evidence” that the Wolverines engaged in an impermissible scouting scheme.

The majority of those fines will come in the form of lost playoff revenue. It’s a significant blow to the Wolverines’ bank account as schools start paying players from an annual $20.5 million pool.

Penalties for Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore include an additional suspension for the first game of the 2026 season. The school has already self-imposed a two-game suspension, which Moore will serve during weeks three and four of this coming season. Moore is accused of deleting more than 50 text messages from Stalions after news of the scandal broke in 2023.

Norman Bay, the chief case officer for the NCAA Committee on Infractions, said, given the evidence, the punishment was fair.

“I think the penalty here was very significant. I think it was meaningful. And, I think it sends a message to the membership that rules matter,” Bay said.

Why was Michigan punished?

The 74-page NCAA report states that over the course of three seasons starting in 2021, the Michigan football program committed violations orchestrated by Stalions. He is accused of collecting video footage of opposing teams’ signals shot from the stands by people he recruited to participate. The network of individuals gathering “dirty tape” was referred to as the “KGB,” according to the report. The allegations span 52 games involving spying on other Big Ten teams and potential postseason opponents. Michigan went 15-0 in 2023 and won the national championship.

“You don’t put together a network of individuals called the KGB that records ‘dirty film’ where the costs is in the tens of thousands of dollars unless you intend to gain a substantial competitive advantage,” Bay said.

Last summer, the NCAA formally charged Michigan with 11 allegations, six of which were deemed Level I, the most serious rules violations. The charges came after a 10-month investigation.

The university refuted many of the alleged violations in a 137-page response, accusing the NCAA of “grossly overreaching” and “wildly overcharging” the program without credible evidence.

What were the penalties for Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stalions?

The committee said Jim Harbaugh’s program “lacked compliance” and hit the former head coach with a 10-year show-cause penalty. Harbaugh left to join the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers after the national championship win and is already serving a four-year penalty for recruiting violations.

Meanwhile, Stalions received an eight-year show-cause penalty. He left the program in 2023 and was the main figure in the 2024 Netflix documentary “Sign Stealing.”

A show-cause requires a school to formally justify hiring a coach who has committed NCAA violations. It is viewed as a major deterrent to someone coaching in college for the duration of the penalty.

In a statement, Stalions’ lawyer, Brad Beckworth, said Stalions’ punishment was the result of a “rigged investigation.”

“It is our opinion that the NCAA decided the penalties for Connor back in the fall of 2023, when they went public about their investigation a few days after it started,” Beckworth said.

The Wolverines avoided harsher punishments, including a future postseason ban or having to vacate wins from their national championship season. NCAA president Charlie Baker said in January 2024 that the Wolverines won the national championship “fair and square.”