Central Michigan receives NCAA notice of allegations tied to Connor Stalions sideline scandal
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Central Michigan receives NCAA notice of allegations tied to Connor Stalions sideline scandal
Central Michigan received a notice of allegations from the NCAA on June 27. It stems from a nearly two-year-old incident in which a man believed to be Connor Stalions appeared on the Chippewas’ sideline. The NCAA began investigating the matter in late October 2023, shortly after the photos surfaced online and drew national attention. The investigation lasted more than a year and was delayed several times due to what the NCAA cited as the submission of “false or misleading information” The school has until Sept. 25 to formally respond to the NCAA’s notice of allegation. The case with the NCAA remains ongoing, with a decision expected before the 2025 season.
The moment in question occurred during Central Michigan’s 2023 season opener at Michigan State, when a man resembling Stalions, wearing Chippewas coaching gear and sunglasses that appeared to include a recording device, and facial hair was seen among Central Michigan staffers. The NCAA began investigating the matter in late October 2023, shortly after the photos surfaced online and drew national attention.
Stalions, who since became a central figure in a high-profile sign-stealing scandal, denied being present on the sideline that night. He maintained that position even after the release of the Netflix documentary “Untold: Sign Stealer,” which chronicled the larger investigation surrounding his alleged scheme.
According to the NCAA’s Division I infractions database, the inquiry into Central Michigan began on Oct. 31, 2023. A formal notice of inquiry followed on Nov. 3, marking the official start of a lengthy process. The investigation lasted more than a year and was delayed several times due to what the NCAA cited as the submission of “false or misleading information,” as well as the “withholding of requested materials.” A review board finally met on Nov. 21, 2024, before the NOA was issued this summer.
With the notice now delivered, Central Michigan has until Sept. 25 to formally respond.
Former Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain, who resigned following the 2024 season, claimed at the time that he had no knowledge of the identity of the man on the Chippewas’ sideline.
“We … were totally unaware of it,” McElwain told reporters. “I certainly don’t condone it in any way, shape, or form, and I do know that his name was on none of the [sideline] passes that were let out.”
McElwain previously served as Michigan’s wide receivers coach in 2018. Former quarterbacks coach Jake Kostner, who worked alongside Stalions at Michigan from 2015-18 — when Stalions was a student assistant — also resigned from Central Michigan during the fall of 2024. It’s unclear if Kostner had any involvement in the investigation.
Stalions is accused of organizing a widespread effort to decode opponent signals by purchasing tickets to games and sending associates to film teams’ sidelines. The Central Michigan incident remains the only publicly surfaced evidence suggesting he may have physically infiltrated a sideline in disguise.
Michigan’s case with the NCAA remains ongoing, with a decision expected before the 2025 season. Coach Sherrone Moore will serve a two-game university-imposed suspension, including a Week 3 matchup against Central Michigan.
Central Michigan denies receiving NCAA Notice of Allegations for sign-stealing scandal
The NCAA updated its online dashboard for ongoing investigations into pending Division I infraction cases to show it issued a Notice of Allegations to Central Michigan on June 27. The Chippewas are disputing that it has actually received the NCAA’s NOA, and instead acknowledged the program is “working with the NCAA toward a negotiated resolution.” The investigation into Central Michigan began Oct. 31, 2023, and has already involved multiple delays due to parties involved providing “false or misleading information” to NCAA investigators. The NCAA began its investigation into Michigan in 2023 after allegations of sign-stealing surfaced. Former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh also served a suspension through the end of the 2023 regular season.
Well, as it turns out, the Chippewas are disputing that it has actually received the NCAA’s NOA, and instead acknowledged the program is “working with the NCAA toward a negotiated resolution.”
“We are aware that the NCAA has updated its online infractions dashboard for parties contesting their allegations,” the Central Michigan statement read, according to the Detroit News‘ Tony Paul. “CMU has not received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA because it is working with the NCAA toward a negotiated resolution. We have been working collaboratively with the NCAA since Fall 2023, and we look forward to bringing our matter to a fair conclusion soon.”
According to the NCAA’s online infractions dashboard, the investigation into Central Michigan began Oct. 31, 2023, and has already involved multiple delays due to parties involved providing “false or misleading information” to NCAA investigators. A NCAA review board was held Nov. 21, 2024.
Central Michigan’s involvement in the Michigan sign-stealing scandal likely centers around the program’s involvement in Stalions’ presence on the CMU sidelines during the 2023 season-opener against Michigan State in East Lansing, when Stalions was still employed at Michigan. Stalions, who served as an analyst on the Michigan staff for several seasons, later resigned in Nov. 2023 after reports of his sign-stealing enterprise were discovered.
Former Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain, who retired from his position following the 2024 season for another role within the CMU athletic department, previously denied knowing anything about Stalions’ presence on Michigan State’s visiting sideline for their 2023 game in East Lansing.
“We … were totally unaware of it,” McElwain previously said via CBS. “I certainly don’t condone it in any way, shape, or form, and I do know that his name was on none of the [sideline] passes that were let out.”
The NCAA began its investigation into Michigan in 2023 after allegations of sign-stealing surfaced. Former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh also served a suspension through the end of the 2023 regular season, handed down by Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti under the league’s sportsmanship policy. In the time since, Michigan won the national championship and Harbaugh left for the Los Angeles Chargers, leading to Sherrone Moore’s elevation to head coach. Moore is currently slated to be suspended for the third and fourth games of Michigan’s 2025 season as part of self-imposed penalties for his involvement in deleting a text message exchange with Stalions after the scandal first broke in 2023.