ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The NCAA penalties from Michigan football's sign-stealing operation will cost the school more than $30 million, athletic director Warde Manuel said.
Manuel recently spoke about the fines in a radio interview on The Big 1050 WTKA, saying "we’re going to find a way to deal with it.”
The NCAA announced in August a series of punishments for a sprawling scandal that has loomed over the Wolverines for two years, including during their run to the national championship in the 2023 season, and the fine was expected to be tens of millions of dollars.
Michigan initially appealed the ruling, and later withdrew last month.
Coach Sherrone Moore also withdrew his appeal in September after serving the school’s self-imposed, two-game suspension. He will also be suspended for the 2026 season-opening game.
The NCAA said it had “overwhelming” and concerning evidence of a cover-up by Wolverines staff and noted there were “sufficient grounds for a multiyear postseason ban” against a program now considered a repeat violator. The governing body stopped short of program-crippling punishments, though, saying a two-year postseason ban “would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff” who were no longer there.
Jim Harbaugh, a former Michigan quarterback and now the coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, faces a 10-year show-cause order following the conclusion of his previous four-year order effective Aug. 7, 2028. Harbaugh has always maintained he knew nothing about the scheme.
Connor Stalions, a former low-level staffer who ran the scouting and sign-stealing operation, was issued an eight-year show-cause order, which effectively bans a person from college athletics for the period handed down.
The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but prohibits schools from sending scouts to the games of in-season opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team’s signals. The scheme run by Stalions, the NCAA said, was elaborate and detailed.
The 15th-ranked Wolverines will host top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday.
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