ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Former Michigan Wolverines linebackers coach Chris Partridge sued the University of Michigan, its Board of Regents, and athletic director Warde Manuel in federal court, alleging violations of his constitutional rights and a breach of a written employment agreement.
Patridge, now a member of the Super Bowl LX-winning Seattle Seahawks, filed the suit on Wednesday (March 11) in response to his firing back on Nov. 17, 2023, amid the university’s response to the NCAA’s sign-stealing investigation into an advanced scouting operation run by former staffer Connor Stalions.
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He said the university made him a “scapegoat” to resolve litigation between Michigan and the Big Ten.
The 46-page complaint filed in the Eastern District of Michigan alleges Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti threatened to embarrass Michigan by publicizing that information at a pending injunction hearing for former head coach Jim Harbaugh, and that Manuel offered to terminate Partridge to secure a resolution.
Partridge’s suit says the university later framed his firing as related to evidence destruction and obstruction, allegations he denies, and that the NCAA ultimately did not sustain them against him.
Back in 2023, it was reported that a Michigan football player approached Partridge, told him he was nervous about his upcoming interview with the NCAA, and asked for advice.
Patridge said in the lawsuit that he advised the player to speak with his parents about getting an attorney and to just be honest with the NCAA.
Partridge had served on Michigan’s football coaching staff from 2015 until 2019 before leaving for Ole Miss and returning to Michigan in the 2023 season as the linebackers coach until his dismissal on Nov. 17, 2023.
The filing says Partridge fully cooperated with the NCAA, turned over work devices, testified at the June 2025 hearing, and was not punished in the NCAA’s Aug. 15, 2025, public infractions decision.
The complaint claims the NCAA found only a limited recruiting-related text message violation against Partridge and that the more serious allegations did not stick.
The suit seeks damages for lost wages, reputational harm, and emotional distress, and alleges violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as claims of failure to train or supervise and retaliation by Manuel.
Both Michigan and the Big Ten previously declined to comment on related reporting, and the university has not yet filed a court response to this complaint.
2023
Following his firing, Partridge released a statement, saying, “I want to be clear: I had no knowledge whatsoever of any in-person or illegal scouting or illegal sign stealing. Additionally, at no point did I destroy any evidence related to an ongoing investigation.”
— Chris Partridge (@CoachCPartridge) November 27, 2023
Sign Stealer
Stalions grew up bleeding maize and blue, thanks to his parents, who raised him in Lake Orion, where he graduated high school.
He joined the Naval Academy after high school because he read that 15 of the top 20 coaches of all time, including Mike Krzyzewski, Gregg Popovich, John Wooden, Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, and his hero, Bo Schembechler, served in the military.
While in the Navy, Stalions approached the head coach, Ken Niumatalolo, and asked if he could serve as a student coach so he could someday coach at Michigan.
Niumatalolo walked him into the offensive coordinator’s office and said, “Here’s your new student coach.”
→ What we learned about Michigan football during ‘Sign Stealer’ documentary on Netflix
Stalions later said he asked a staff member what he was to do during game days and was told to try to decipher opposing players’ signs.
By happenstance, his first game learning to sign-steal came against Ohio State in 2014.
Stalions graduated from the Navy and joined the United States Marines as a logistics officer, earning the rank of captain, but he still hoped to join Michigan’s staff.
After the Marines, he returned home to Michigan, where he attended a massive coaches’ clinic with his father, Brock.
Stalions told Partridge that he deciphered signals for the Navy football team, and Partridge said, “Yeah, sure, we don’t have anyone doing that.”
While stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California, in 2018, Stalions said he would go to Michigan games on his own dime and fly wherever Michigan was to assist the football program as an Intel Operations Volunteer Staff member for three years while serving in the Marines.
While stationed, he would meet with the team and stand on the sideline to decipher signals.
After a period of time, Stalions created sign-stealing sheets on opponents the Wolverines faced, totaling nearly 3,000 references to deciphering signals by videotaping himself, then cutting out images of himself, and memorizing them.
Stalions said that after the 2018 season, he received a call from a buddy, saying he had given his number to someone who informed him about an underground community of college football analysts who’d call each other on Sundays to trade playbooks and schemes before the team takes on the past weeks opponent and go into the following week with their signs as they’re facing that opponent.
At this point, the most known unknown was that each team had a person in charge of stealing signs, which was not illegal, as 90% of teams had one.
During 2018-2020, Harbaugh barely beat the Michigan State Spartans and was getting boat-raced by the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Harbaugh’s job was on the line heading into the 2021 season, as he took a pay cut to stay with the team.
Partridge told Stalions that Michigan didn’t have a sign stealer, and he said he explained to the now 45-year-old NFL assistant how other schools did and how they knew Michigan’s plays on both sides of the ball.
If you have ever been to a game years prior and heard the defense yelling “Run” or “Pass,” or teams knowing when the blitz was coming, according to Stalions, a coach on the staff asked him how to protect their signals moving forward.
Stalions became a full-time staff member in 2021, creating a network to ensure a level playing field, and the rest was history.