Big Ten coaches reportedly want league to do something about Michigan football scandal

A majority of Big Ten football head coaches shared their displeasures with the ongoing signal-stealing investigation surrounding the Michigan football program on a video call with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, according to a report released by ESPN late Wednesday night.

The report claims the conversation — described as "regularly scheduled Big Ten business" — lasted nearly an hour-and-a-half, and that U-M coach Jim Harbaugh left the conversation after the first hour so the rest of the leagues coaches could speak about their feelings more "freely."

During that time, per the report, coaches were described as "emotional," with the coaches "encouraging Petitti to take action against Michigan."

Big Ten representatives have not returned calls from the Free Press, including one placed Wednesday morning seeking a timeline on any potential ruling before word of the coaches meeting.

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Petitti, hired in April, reportedly heard numerous examples from coaches who detailed how U-M's plan unfolded and the ways in which it hurt their programs; sign-stealing is legal during a game, but in-person scouting of future opponents and the use of technology to do so are against NCAA bylaws that date back nearly 30 years.

Earlier in the week, The Athletic released a report that polled 50 anonymous coaches around the NCAA gauging their sense of how serious U-M's alleged violations are in their eyes and the results, at least of that straw poll, indicated this is a serious matter.

On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most serious, the average score rated the investigation a 4.2 in terms of seriousness. Forty-seven of the 50 coaches said that Michigan deserved some sort of punishment, two said they were unsure and just one said no punishment should be handed down.

The entire saga has escalated quickly, which began on Oct. 19, when the Big Ten confirmed the NCAA is investigating U-M for illegally stealing signs.

Since then, reports identified Connor Stalions as the epicenter of the sign-stealing plot, have alleged that he purchased tickets to more than 35 games across 17 stadiums over the past three years, which includes tickets to games of 12 of the 13 Big Ten opponents and reportedly uncovered evidence that shows a paper trail and $15,000 budget for this year's scouting trips.

That was all before late Monday night, when photos began circulating of a man who looked like Stalions on the sidelines of Central Michigan's season-opening football game at Michigan State. CMU confirmed Tuesday afternoon it is investigating the matter in the afternoon, then after CMU out-lasted Northern Illinois 37-31 on Tuesday evening, head coach Jim McElwain acknowledged the situation by saying there's no place in the sport for illegally stealing signs.

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"Before we go any farther, we're obviously aware of a picture floating around of the sign-stealer guy," McElwain said. "Our people are doing everything they can get to get to the bottom of it. We were unaware, totally unaware of it, and I certainly don't condone it in any way, shape or form.

"I do know that his name was on none of the passes. Now we just keep tracing it back and tracing it back and try to figure it out. It's in good hands with our people. And, again, there's no place in football for that."

Michigan (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) is No. 2 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday. The latter committee has received some push back for including U-M, but those involved have pointed out their role is to identify the four best teams on the field.

"It's an NCAA issue, it's not a CFP issue," College Football Playoff chairman Boo Corrigan said during an interview on ESPN after the rankings were released."

"Michigan has played well all season," added CFP executive director Bill Hancock. "The fact of the matter is no one knows what happened. We’re dealing right now — the NCAA is dealing right now with allegations only. The committee makes its judgments based on what happened on the field, and clearly Michigan has been a dominant team."

"You have to remember that these are allegations at this point and not facts, and so there’s no substantive evidence that anything happened that might have affected the game. All this committee does is evaluate what happens on the field during games. That’s why we are where we are."

Results of the NCAA investigation are not expected to come during this season.

It's one reason it is believed the coaches pushed to have the call with Petitti on Wednesday, according to ESPN, as the commissioner "has the discretion to pursue, or choose not to pursue, an investigation as to whether an offensive action has occurred" according to the Sportsmanship Policy under NCAA rules 10.3.1.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Ten coaches want Michigan football punished for sign stealing