Connor Stalions' legal team predictably has some complaints about the NCAA's sanctions against him and the Michigan football program.
A day after the NCAA announced it was fining the Wolverines an eight-figure sum and hitting Stalions with an eight-year show-cause penalty, Stalions' attorney Brad Beckworth released a 779-word statement blasting the organization for a "vendetta" against his client:
He also had plenty of praise for Stalions as a person, adding that Stalions still plans to be involved in football despite the show-cause:
"We are not surprised by the NCAA's ruling because the NCAA did, as it has always done, the wrong thing. Based on the penalties laid down today, it is obvious that this whole ordeal was just another, last-ditch effort by the NCAA in its perpetual, petty witch hunt of Coach Harbaugh. Connor was just the vehicle through which the NCAA could give itself the last word in this vendetta.
"Connor will be fine. He is a wonderful person. He's smart. He's loyal, dedicated, and determined—traits he carries with him onto the football field from his days serving his country to protect all of us. He loves helping young people learn about life and football. And, regardless of what the NCAA says today, he plans to continue learning about and contributing to the game of football at is highest levels."
A show-cause penalty is a requirement that any school who tries to hire the coach in question must justify it to the NCAA. It often acts as a de facto ban from college athletics in the more serious and public cases.
Stalions was the central figure in the scandal that nearly consumed Michigan's 2023 championship season. The beats of the story — in which Stalions was alleged to have illegally stolen signs from teams with the knowledge of the Michigan coaching staff — are well known, but Beckworth insisted that the NCAA's handling of the matter compromised its integrity, pointing to the Netflix documentary "Sign Stealer" as the true story:
"Connor already won. We knew he was going to be railroaded the moment the NCAA first leaked this story in violation of its own rules. The NCAA decided it would target and punish him in 2023. So, rather than let them ruin his career in silence, he decided to expose the NCAA for the fraud it is in documentary Sign Stealer. Rather than let the NCAA continue to hide in secret, we decided to let the public see the truth for itself. And what the public saw revealed what we already knew to be true: this was a rigged investigation; enveloped in impropriety (namely, a "confidential source" that the NCAA still won't reveal); and all premised on an antiquated rule that the member institutions themselves have tried to eliminate as something that "no longer serve[s] the needs of the membership and the 21st century student-athlete."
"The enforcement staff and the NCAA made it very clear that their feelings were hurt when they were exposed on Sign Stealer. But, through that process, the entire country saw the NCAA's investigation for what it was—a sham. The only way to deal with a bully and hypocrite is to expose them to the public and make sure everyone knows exactly what they are trying to do behind closed doors. We did that. We will continue to fight the NCAA anywhere and everywhere we can."
He insisted multiple times the case against Stalions would not have passed muster in an actual court room, then took one of the biggest swings possible by pointing to the O.J. Simpson case:
"The NCAA claims to be about protecting amateurism in college sports. It does not. The halls of the NCAA headquarters are lined with millions-of-dollars' worth of art paid for on the backs of superstars like Johnny Manziel, Reggie Bush, and the thousands of student athletes who worked for free while the NCAA and its member institutions profited billions. Let's not forget that while the NCAA went after Reggie Bush after he left USC, and took his Heisman away, it let USC continue to proudly display O.J. Simpson's Heisman in Heritage Hall."
Stalions was one of four coaches individually sanctioned in the Michigan coach. The others were current head coach Sherrone Moore (hit with an additional one-game suspension and a two-year show-cause), former head coach Jim Harbaugh (10-year show-cause) and former assistant Denard Robinson (three-year show-cause).
Stalions' former supervisor Charlie Partridge, who was later fired in relation to the scandal, was cleared in the investigation.
Michigan quickly announced it would appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, Beckworth said Stalions is "glad that this process is now behind him," indicating there will be no further action from their side.
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