A former division-three football coach alleges that Michigan paid him to record Big Ten opponents as college football’s edition of SpyGate continues to press on.
ESPN’s Dan Murphy reports that the former division-three football player and coach spoke to the Four Letter on a condition of anonymity that Connor Stalions, a central figure in the scandal, paid the unnamed coach “a couple hundred dollars” to attend three Big Ten games over the past two years to record the sidelines of future Michigan opponents. The D-III coach was also reportedly rewarded with a ticket to a Michigan game.
After the coach finished filming, he reportedly told Murphy that he uploaded the video off of his phone to a shared iPhoto album that he is unaware of if anyone other than Stallions had access to.
The anonymous D-III coach seemingly took the job thinking that the task fell within College Football’s “grey area” when it came to scouting other teams.
“I didn’t like it, but it’s a gray line,” he said. “You can call me naive, but no one is reading the bylaws. I’m not a contractual lawyer. …I just felt like if you’re not doing it, you’re not trying to get ahead.”
It is against NCAA rules for staff members of a football program to scout games of future opponents in person. The NCAA football rulebook also prohibits “an opposing player, coach or other team personnel” from recording an opponent’s signals through audio or video. The NCAA is investigating claims that Michigan used a large network of individuals to tape games of future opponents. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh denied any knowledge of the alleged scheme in a statement last week. A Michigan spokesman added on Friday that “due to the ongoing investigation, no one from Michigan will be able to comment beyond what was shared last week.”
ESPN.com
The D-III coach in their conversation with ESPN mentioned that they attended games at Rutgers and Penn State last season and attended another game at Happy Valley this season. Stalions also reportedly provided the coach with a ticket to this Saturday’s game between Indiana and Penn State which he doesn’t plan to attend.
With their cell phone, the D-III coach said that they typically sat 15-20 rows up from field level filming every drive while trying to include the sidelines so that any signals relayed onto the field were visible in the recording. They were also paid roughly $1,000 to cover expenses and compensate for time which was allegedly done from Stalions’ personal Venmo account.
Stalions, who was suspended by the University with pay amid the NCAA investigation, reportedly purchased tickets to 35 different games over the past three years featuring 12 Big Ten teams as well as other potential College Football Playoff opponents. It’s estimated that the scouting trip costs surpassed $15,000 leading to speculation that Stalions didn’t act alone considering his $55,000 a year salary according to the University’s website.