The moment we think Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal is finally going to rest, a new development comes up. And then, it’s chaos all over again for Michigan fans. Jim Harbaugh’s era in Michigan is now synonymous with this one scandal. Its repercussions are now reaching those of Sherrone Moore’s. To this day, some Michigan fans are of the opinion that Michigan’s sign-stealing methods did not amount to cheating. But the NCAA has heard enough and will soon announce its verdict. Sherrone Moore’s headaches will only grow when that happens.
Michigan is still awaiting a verdict from the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions. Amid the massive blowback that occurred when news of the scandal broke, Michigan tried to save itself before the ground fell apart underneath it. The top brass immediately did away with Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stallions. Sherrone Moore, who is also part of the controversy, succeeded Harbaugh. He has been punished with a 2-game suspension from the season, which doesn’t make much of a dent in his 2025 campaign. The bigger judgment, which is still pending, might leave Michigan in a state of panic, says RJ Young.
This comes after TCU’s comments about the scandal at the Big 12’s Media days. The staff admitted in 2023 that they were aware of Michigan deploying its sly attack. But HC Sonny Dykes acted accordingly and made some last-minute changes. Young said in a July 11 video of his show, Adapt & Respond, “Texas Christian and Sonny Dykes have done a really good job of just kind of dodging all of this sign stealing, conversation… But the NCAA still hasn’t.” Michigan’s hearing with the committee was held in June, and a decision is slated to be announced within 30-90 days.
“You do your simple math: July, August, September, we would figure something out. I think they’re going to time this so that it gives Michigan just enough of an opportunity to do something before the season starts,” he added. Michigan begins its season on August 30 against New Mexico. 90 days from the date of the hearing would mean September 9. Whatever the case may be, the impact of the NCAA’s verdict is going to land on the Wolverines’ latter part of the season. A lot of things stand to be ruined should that happen, particularly Bryce Underwood’s debut season. Michigan was looking to enter 2025 as one of the most promising programs in college football. However, the success of Sherrone Moore’s campaign stands threatened with the impending NCAA verdict.
Connor Stalions, meanwhile, is adamant that his actions do not amount to sign stealing. For fans who echo the shunned staffer’s thoughts, Young had a clear response. “It is cheating. NCAA bylaw 11.1.2, where you are not allowed to advance scout. And that means go to other people’s stadiums with a video camera, tape their signs for an entire game, bring them back home, break their signs, break their code, put it in you little book, and then tell everybody up or down [when it is a run or pass]. That’s a bridge too far for us. It’s a bridge too far for us because now you’ve taken the gamesmanship and sportsmanship out of it,” he said.
Dykes seemed to have the last laugh when Michigan dispatched its crew to study their signs, based on the attention-grabbing reveal he made in the Big 12 presser.
Sonny Dykes throws light on his strategy to outsmart Michigan
Dykes began his TCU head coaching career with a bang, charging through the season and making it to the National Championship in the 2022 season. But had Dykes not been alerted about Stalions’ under-the-radar mission in play, we might not have seen the Horned Frogs reach that point. TCU played Michigan in the CFP semifinals and trounced the Wolverines 51-45. That was possible in part because of Dykes changing signals in the games before this one, which threw Michigan off.
“We had some intel that (the sign stealing) was going on… we had some intel that it was kind of next level there,” Dykes told On3 during the Big 12 Media days. “We found out early enough (before the game) where we could change a lot of our signals and then we had some dummy signals and some things where we checked a dummy signal to a signal that we knew they knew,” he added. That led to the Horned Frogs being the only team Michigan lost to in their 2022 campaign. This was more than a year before the scandal became public knowledge. TCU was not the favored team here. Dykes did not make it through the National Championship Game, but he took down Michigan with him.
Sherrone Moore, now, will face the brunt of a controversy whose prime subjects are no longer with the program. Dykes is yet to get back to his shining 2022 record, having wins in single digits the last two seasons. But he does not have to deal with a problem so pressing that it becomes a spectacle of such scale. How badly will Moore and Michigan suffer when the NCAA verdict does come out?
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