ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The NCAA has released the list of punishments for Michigan football in the sign-stealing investigation.
Sign-stealing operation
Former football staffer Connor Stalions is accused of breaking NCAA advanced scouting rules by sending people to games involving future Michigan opponents to gather cellphone footage of sideline signals.
The Big Ten suspended then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three regular season games of the 2023 season during the investigation, and Michigan has self-imposed a very specific two-game suspension for current head coach Sherrone Moore this year.
Moore will miss the second and third games of the season against Central Michigan and at Nebraska. Michigan didn’t suspend him for the first two weeks because they are playing at Oklahoma in Week 2, and that’s where Moore played college ball.
So far, there hasn’t been confirmed evidence that Harbaugh, Moore, or anyone else on staff knew what Stalions was up to or directed him to break NCAA rules. But still, there are questions of institutional control and how the university handled the situation.
The Wolverines went on to win the national championship in 2013, and NCAA President Charlie Baker quickly went on the record to defense that title, saying it was won “fair and square.”
Full list of punishments
Here is the full list of punishments for Michigan, Sherrone Moore, and three former staff members:
Michigan football program:
- Four years of probation.
- A $50,000 fine, plus 10%of the budget for the football program.
- A fine equal to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing from the 2025 and 2026 seasons (likely more than $20 million, per reports).
- A fine equal to the cost of 10% of the scholarships awarded to Michigan’s football program for the 2025-26 academic year.
- A 25% reduction in football official visits during the 2025-26 season.
- A 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications in the football program during the probation period.
Sherrone Moore:
- A two-year show cause order.
- He is suspended from a total of three games. This includes the self-imposed suspension for the Central Michigan and Nebraska games in 2025 and includes the first game of 2026, which is against Western Michigan in Germany.
- Apart from the three-game suspension, Moore can coach and engage in other athletic-related activities during his show-cause period.
Jim Harbaugh:
- A 10-year show-cause order that restricts him from all athletically related activities during that period, which begins on Aug. 7, 2028 (when his current show-cause from a previous case ends).
Connor Stalions:
- An eight-year show-cause order restricting him from all athletically related activities.
Denard Robinson:
- A three-year show-cause order restricting him from all athletically related activities.