Connor Stalions, an ex-Michigan staffer who played a pivotal role in the Wolverines sign-stealing scandal, has been named acting head coach at Detroit Mumford High School.
The move comes after head coach William McMichael suffered a stroke last week.
“Connor is leading the team now,” McMichael texted CBS Sports.
He also informed the outlet that the current situation regarding any potential return to the sidelines for himself is “unknown”.
Stalions was hired by Mumford last year after being suspended and ultimately resigning from Michigan. McMichael at the time had nothing but praise for his new defensive coordinator.
“A lot of the kids call him ‘5 Star Stalions’” he said. “They are learning a lot, so something they haven’t done in a while.”
Apparently that ‘learning’ didn’t involve stealing signs, since the team promptly came out and lost to the Thurston Eagles, with Stalions’ defense holding the opposition to just 47 points.
Connor Stalions As Head Coach
We sincerely hope coach McMichael is on the mend very soon. Hopefully, he can resume his role as head coach of Detroit Mumford High School very soon.
That said, the school seems to be flaunting Stalions in the faces of Michigan haters. There was nobody else you could appoint as interim head coach?
You didn’t think this would create a media firestorm? Maybe the special teams coach considering both the offense and defense stunk up the field in your team’s opener.
Stalions was accused of orchestrating the elaborate sign-stealing operation at Michigan that tainted the Wolverines’ championship season in 2023 and got coach Jim Harbaugh suspended before he left for the NFL.
Over three years, Stalions allegedly bought tickets to more than 30 Big Ten games, including games involving Michigan’s opponents and potential playoff contenders.
It was part of an effort to record signals from opposing teams’ sidelines, which would violate NCAA rules against in-person scouting of future opponents.
He even reportedly attended a Michigan State-Central Michigan game wearing a fake mustache and Chippewas gear – a blatant and brazen violation of NCAA rules.
Still Feeling The Repercussions
Despite his documented efforts to skirt the rules, Connor Stalions has insisted he did nothing wrong and would, in fact, do it all over again.
Is sign-stealing okay in high school sports? The man has no regrets.
“I don’t regret a thing, and I would do the same thing over again,” Stalions said in a new Netflix documentary.
If you haven’t seen Untold: Sign Stealer, it’s a fascinating deep-dive into how obsessed the man was with Michigan football. And, he insists he was just targeted because he was better at stealing signs than his colleagues.
“I obtain signals the same way every other team does,” he says. “What sets me apart is the way in which I organize information and process it on game day.”
Stalions was suspended over the scandal but later resigned in an attempt to take the heat off Harbaugh,
The Big Ten Conference suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season as a result of the university’s violation of the conference’s sportsmanship policy.
He accepted the suspension, which was a sanction against the university and meant to blunt the eventual blow delivered by the NCAA, and it allowed the team to continue competing.
Harbaugh, who led the team to a championship and then high-tailed it to the Los Angeles Chargers, has also vociferously denied any wrong-doing.
“No one is perfect. If you stumble, you apologize, and you make it right. Today, I do not apologize,” he said.
Michigan stumbled with their integrity, and Harbaugh got promoted while Stalions got demoted to a high school job. But hey, at least he’s achieved his dream of being a head coach … for now.
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