In the past few weeks, everyone who pays attention to college football or sports in general has heard the name Connor Stallions. But who is Connor Stallions? Well, Stallions is a Michigan recruiting analyst who has been behind a sign stealing scandal where he has bought tickets for opponents games and performed in person scouting in the stands and on the sideline. What makes this weird though, is the position he is (recruiting analyst) and why he’s doing it. Stallions has been caught in a few things like this sign stealing scandal, and maybe even a fake business with Michigan RB Blake Corum to help cover the expense of the tickets he has had to buy for hisself and others he’s paid to do in person scouting.
Earlier in the month, ESPN’s Peter Thamel broke the news that Michigan was being investigated by the Big10 because of alleged sign stealing and illegal in person scouting done by Connor Stallions. The Big10 found out about this by a 3rd party law firm, a firm that seems to have no connection to Michigan. This 3rd party law firm notified the Big10 about a possible sign stealing scandal with details, causing the Big10 to announce its investigation into Michigan. Since then, details have emerged that Stallions has purchased tickets for over 40 games with teams in the Big10 and playoff contending teams. Its been shown by Stallions public Venmo account that he has also payed other individuals to attend games and scout other teams to get their signals or signs. There have also been details reporting Stallions wrote and approximate 600 page manifesto on how to take over the Michigan football program. Stallions dream has been to be a head coach or be able to run the Michigan football program. He originally applied for Michigan as a student and got accepted, but instead chose to attend the U.S Naval Academy because he saw that is what other coaches did and thought it would help him become more successful in the coaching career.
One of the questions being asked is how he did this in person scouting. While there have been videos of him on different teams sidelines or in the stands he has done it all in a creative and kind of impressive way thats hard to overlook. The main way that stands out was him on the Central Michigan sideline, wearing a hat and glasses at night, acting like a part of the Central Michigan staff. Stallions glasses though had an interesting feature, they are the ”Ray Bans” sunglasses with a built in camera in the corner of the lens. The content recorded on these sunglasses can be downloaded to a computer or phone and played back, making it easy to go back and figure out the signals in the game. The other thing that was weird about the Central Michigan game he attended was how did he get on the sidelines. Did he have a connection? Did he sneak on? Did Central Michigan know? Who knows, but Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain has denied the team knowing about Stallions on the field, and has also said they have records proving they did not give him an on field pass.
The latest detail and situation to emerge has been Blake Corum’s business dealings with Connor Stallions. Blake Corum is Michigan’s starting running back who is highly talented and a top Heisman candidate last season. Pictures have emerged off of the state of Wyoming’s business website showing a business titled ”BC2 Housing LLC” ran by Blake Corum, Connor Stallions, and an individual named Connor O’dea. Some believe Connor O’dea is not a real individual who Stallions made up for tax purposes, and some believe O’dea is Stallions former roommate and friend. Either way there are 2 connections that can be made with this business scenario. One being this could be how Stallions paid for tickets for his self and others to attend games. Stallions annual salary was 50k a year, meaning about 45k after tax. His salary doesn’t make it impossible to pay for these tickets but his side hustle with Corum does make it a lot easier. Another connection that can be made is the 3rd party law firm mentioned in the beginning who started the whole investigation. Corum has denied business dealings with Stallions and has said he has attorneys handling the situation and specifically saying ”My attorneys are on it”. It has not been proven but, maybe Stallions and Corum had some disagreements on their business decisions and Corum took action, by telling his attorneys to mention to the Big10 about Stallions and his wrong doings, creating the 3rd party law firm that started this all. Corum and his attorneys could have done this move to put the spotlight on Stallions and show his wrong doings, or maybe end Stallions career which in recent days has happened. Stallions was officially let go by Michigan and fired from their staff last week.
This whole story is wild and takes a lot of turns. The investigation is just getting started but one thing is for sure, Michigan will be punished in some way. Big10 commissioner Tony Petitti, who is in his 1st year as commissioner, has officially stated that Michigan will be punished in some way when the investigation is over and the Big10 Knows all of the details. The NCAA can also get involved, which more then likely can put off any type of punishment till next season.
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