The Netflix documentary “Untold: Sign Stealer” will generate a viral reaction to the Michigan scouting and sign-stealing scandal during the 2023 season involving Connor Stalions.
The Stalions resigned on Nov. 3, 2023, amid an NCAA investigation, and the fallout from the Wolverines’ national championship season on and off the field is explored in the new documentary. Michigan received a notice of allegations from the NCAA on Sunday as a result of the investigation.
The challenge for “Sign Stealer” director Micah Brown was to tell both sides of the story while keeping the focus on Stalions in his first commentary since his retirement.
“It was a challenge to tell a story about a person you like, but you also want to be fair. I’m glad we were able to gain that trust,” Brown told Sporting News. “Even though there are things in the documentary that he may not like and that may not put him in a good light.”
While the documentary answers several questions about the scandal, there is still more than enough room for interpretation about a scandal that will remain a hot topic well into the 2024 college football season. Here are some of the things “Sign Stealer” doesn’t answer.
Did Jim Harbaugh know about Connor Stalion’s sign-stealing operation?
Jim Harbaugh – who served two three-game suspensions during the 2023 season – was given a four-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA for failing to cooperate with a separate NCAA investigation into inappropriate contact with recruits during COVID-19.
Harbaugh – now with the Los Angeles Chargers – has denied any knowledge of the sign-stealing scandal in Michigan. But Stalions reveals some details that make that claim questionable at best, even if those details are still shrouded in mystery.
The documentary claims, among other things, that: “The coach comes to me and says, ‘Hey, I heard our signals are being stolen by pretty much everyone. I heard you’re the guy with the answer. How do we protect our signals?'”
The Stalions also received a game ball after a 27-14 win at Iowa on Oct. 1, 2022, and said Harbaugh told him afterward, “Don’t get so cocky, Connor.”
At no point in the documentary does Stalions accuse Harbaugh of wrongdoing.
Did Sherrone Moore delete text messages with Conor Stalions?
Moore, who succeeded Harbaugh at Michigan, is accused of deleting text messages from stalions, which could constitute at least a Level 2 violation, according to the Associated Press.
These text messages are not mentioned in the documentary. “Sign Stealer” only touches on the possible role of assistant coach Chris Partridge, who was fired on November 17, in the scouting and sign-stealing system.
Michigan opens the 2024 season with Moore as head coach on Saturday against Fresno State.
Was Conor Stalions on the sidelines for Central Michigan?
The documentary pokes fun at that — maybe too much. Stalions holds a photo of the coach at the Central Michigan game next to his head and says, “I don’t even think that guy looks like me.”
Dave Portnoy, owner of Barstool Sports and a well-known Michigan fan, says stalions told him he was at the Central Michigan game. “Yeah, that was Connor on the sidelines,” Portnoy said in the documentary.
While allegations persist that Stalions may have been on the Central Michigan sideline during a game against Michigan State on September 7, 2023, the ambiguity as to what exactly that person – if it was Stalions – was doing on that sideline remains unclear.
It’s like a college football version of “Where’s Waldo?”
Was that Michigan guard Connor Stalions on the Central Michigan sideline at Michigan State?
Central Michigan is investigating.https://t.co/Xnv7T6HlB9 pic.twitter.com/oixYtiOx1l
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) 1 November 2023
Have Stalions used videos from advanced personal scouting?
Several national journalists — including Dan Wetzel, Nicole Auerbach and Will Hobson — cover the ticketing system in which the Stalions gave their friends and relatives tickets to more than 30 games of Michigan’s teams from 2021 to 2023, including Big Ten opponents. Detroit News reporter Tony Paul and Wolverines Wire reporter Isaiah Hole also provide insight into the gray area of the NCAA rule prohibiting in-person scouting.
Stalions admits to receiving videos of these games, but does not say where he got the films or which games. Stalions says, “It’s like getting a Christmas present from your aunt that you already have.”
It happened anyway and is part of the NCAA’s investigation. The documentation does not allow any conclusions to be drawn as to who financed the ticket system.
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Who shared the information with the NCAA?
The identity of the outside investigator who passed the information about the Stalions to the NCAA is not revealed, but the documentary examines – and refutes – numerous conspiracy theories.
The “bombshell” in the documentary is a leaked interview between Stalions and NCAA investigators that will get the most attention this week. In that interview, Stalions answers questions about the Central Michigan game (more or less). Stalions’ attorney Brad Beckworth also makes an allegation about the nature of an alleged data breach of Stalions’ personal information.
“If it’s true that it came from someone who was associated with or had ties to Ohio State University, and we believe it was – and that’s what I would focus on if I was trying to do the right thing,” Beckworth said in the interview with the NCAA.
This allegation is on file with the NCAA as part of the Stalions’ defense and is sure to cause heated debate between Michigan and Ohio State fans.
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Who is Brohio?
“Sign Stealer” has a scene-stealer in Brohio, a message board poster whose identity is not disclosed. He leaked several details about the scandal during the investigation and serves as a constant foil to the Stalions’ claims throughout the documentary, giving the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry an unintentional “spy on spy” feel. Brohio is part of the social media phenomenon that resulted from the Stalions scandal.
“It’s so stupid. He’s literally sitting there spying, in disguise. It’s so ridiculous. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s ripe for memes.”
Brohio says this in disguise, of course. Brohio appears as one of the stars of “Sign Stealer.”
“The whole Brohio thing… The Internet detective aspect was one of my favorite parts because I wanted to have a lot of different narrative perspectives when writing this story,” Brown said.
“It’s a serious story, but if you step back, it’s kind of funny,” Paul admits.
Does Michigan deserve an asterisk at the national championship?
Paul is attacking the “Michigan Man” story, and the scandal is, to say the least, a major blow to the reputation of the Stalions and Michigan — which finished 40-3 in the last three seasons and won three Big Ten championships. Will the NCAA make up for any of this?
That, too, remains to be seen, and the documentary lays out the cases in which Michigan should and should not be punished for the entire scouting and sign-stealing scandal.
It’s not clear if that would mean the potential for nullified wins or the 2023 College Football Playoff championship. Michigan defeated Washington 34-13 on Jan. 8, 2024, to claim the program’s first national championship since 1997. Stalions was at the game as a spectator and has proven to be both a cult hero and a villain, depending on your point of view. Brown does a great job of letting viewers both inside and outside the Michigan-Ohio State cauldron decide for themselves where Stalions fits in that conversation.
“Were any rules broken?” Brown asks before answering. “You’d have to ask Connor about that. I think all the news that’s coming out now suggests that. It also suggests that the NCAA isn’t entirely clear about what the rules are. By skirting around things, they can just get justice whenever they feel like it’s time to get upset about something. That’s kind of in their nature.”
The documentary ends with the Stalions developing a final self-defense strategy.
“I don’t always break the rules,” Stalions said. “I would say I don’t break the rules. I just walk a fine line. I don’t break the rules. I exploit them.”
