Man says U-M staffer paid him to tape Big 10 foes
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Dan Murphy, ESPN Staff Writer
Suspended Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions compensated at least one person for recording future Wolverine opponents with “a couple hundred dollars” and a ticket to a Michigan home game, according to the person.
The man, a former Division 3 football player and coach, spoke to ESPN on the condition that his name not be published because he was concerned about his privacy. He is the first person who was involved in the alleged cheating scheme to publicly share details about their role.
He said he attended three Big Ten games during the past two years to record the sidelines of a future Michigan opponent. He said he uploaded the videos he took on his personal cell phone to a shared iPhone photo album, but does not know who else other than Stalions had access to the album.
He said he was wary of Stalions’ plan “to a degree” when he was first approached to tape the games, but felt that if someone from Michigan’s staff was asking him to do this that it must fall safely in the gray area of college football’s sign-stealing rules.
“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.”
According to a LinkedIn page he has recently deleted, Stalions is a former officer in the Marine Corps who was hired as a member of the program’s recruiting staff in 2022 and worked with the team as a volunteer for several years before then. Photos from recent Michigan games show he frequently stood next to the team’s play callers on the sideline during games. Michigan suspended Stalions with pay last Friday, and sources told ESPN that the NCAA is seeking his computer as part of their investigation.
Stalions did not return multiple phone calls seeking a comment for this story.
The source who spoke to ESPN Friday said he attended games at Rutgers and Penn State last season and another game at Penn State last month.
“I only did a half because it was pouring rain and they were playing UMass. It didn’t pay well enough so I was like, ‘yeah, I’m not staying here.'”
He said that before the news of the investigation was made public Stalions also provided him a ticket to this coming Saturday’s game between Indiana and Penn State. He does not plan to attend.
He said at the games he attended he filmed every drive from his seat in the stands about 15-20 rows above field level. He said he tried to film wide enough to include the sideline and the majority of the team’s on-field formation so members of the Michigan staff would be able to sync his videos with other film and decode the team’s signals. He said he was able to capture enough of the coaches on the sideline that their signals were visible for someone who zoomed in on the recorded video.
“A lot of people may say you can just rip that from the All-22 [wide-shot game film]. Well, it’s not that easy,” he said. “This makes it easier to mirror things up and get those tendencies.”
He said for the three games he taped he received roughly $1,000 to cover his travel expenses and pay for his time. He said Stalions paid him from a personal Venmo account.
Stalions purchased tickets to at least 35 total games featuring 12 other Big Ten teams and several other potential College Football Playoff teams during the last three years, sources told ESPN earlier this week. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that investigators hired by an unknown source to look into Michigan’s operation found evidence that the scouting trips were expected to cost more than $15,000 this year. Stalions, according to the university’s website, received an annual salary of $55,000.
The source said he has not yet been contacted by any investigators from the NCAA or elsewhere.
ESPN contacted several other individuals this week whose names were connected to ticket purchases made by Stalions. One woman based in Jacksonville said she was friends with Stalions from their time together in the military but hung up abruptly when asked about attending last year’s Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville. One other former Michigan staff member, Andrew Barlage, was among the names connected to tickets purchased by Stalions. According to Barlage’s LinkedIn page he was the head recruiting intern at Michigan in 2021 and worked as a graduate assistant for Akron’s football program in 2022. He did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment.
The source who did speak with ESPN said he was not aware of how many people helped tape the games. He said he assumed someone else was helping to fund the trips, but that he only ever spoke to Stalions.
“I wasn’t doing it for personal gain or hoping to get my foot in the door if Conor becomes a head coach someday,” he said. “It was just I got to go to some Big Ten games, alright sweet. And everyone else I felt was doing it to some degree. It’s a billion-dollar industry. You’re going to work in the gray areas as best you can.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this story.
Gunner Stockton passed for 289 yards and four touchdowns, including three to tight end Lawson Luckie, and No. 9 Georgia overcame Trinidad Chambliss and No. 5 Mississippi’s powerful offense to rally for a 43-35 win over the Rebels on Saturday.
Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied after trailing 35-26 at the start of the fourth quarter. Stockton’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Luckie with 7:29 remaining gave Georgia a 40-35 lead.
Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1) was denied its first road win over a top 10 team under coach Lane Kiffin even though the Rebels scored touchdowns on their first five possessions.
Stockton completed 26 of 31 passes and added a 22-yard scoring run in the crucial SEC showdown.
“It was a great day,” Stockton said. “We just played for each other and that’s the best part of our team.”
Stockton and the Bulldogs had no turnovers.
In previewing the game, Kiffin said winning at Georgia would mean the Rebels have taken “another step” in their move up the SEC. That looked likely when they scored touchdowns on each of their first five possessions, taking a nine-point lead in the third quarter.
Suddenly, the Ole Miss offense lost its magic as Georgia did not give up another first down.
Following the first punt of the game by either team with 12:44 remaining, Stockton led a nine-play, 67-yard drive capped by the 7-yard scoring pass to Luckie that gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half.
Following another stop by Georgia’s defense, Stockton led a 10-play drive to set up Peyton Woodring‘s third field goal of the game, a 42-yarder, to stretch the lead to eight points with 2:06 remaining.
Sports
World Series Drought-Buster Watch: Which MLB playoff teams could end longest runs without titles?
Editor’s note: This file originally ran on Oct. 2, 2025 with seven teams that have gone longer than 30 years without a title remaining and will be updated with teams removed as they are eliminated from the 2025 postseason
Mathematical probability, in a perfectly equitable distribution of championships, means each MLB team would win a World Series once every 30 years. That is not the world we live in, of course, so many franchises have experienced long title droughts that have stretched into multiple decades. There is even one that has never appeared in the Fall Classic.
That establishes a super fun element to this year’s postseason. We have several playoff teams who have gone longer than 30 years since their last World Series championship — including the Milwaukee Brewers, who have never won, and the Seattle Mariners, who have still never reached the World Series 48 years into their franchise history.
Maybe, just maybe, some team’s long-suffering fans will experience that euphoria of winning the final game of the season.
Yes, it’s the year of the World Series Drought-Buster Watch. Let’s look at those seven franchises, what went wrong through the years, and why this may finally be The Year.
Milwaukee Brewers
Last World Series title: None (franchise debuted in 1969, moved to Milwaukee in 1970).
Last World Series appearance: 1982 (lost to the Cardinals in seven games).
Closest call since then: Lost the 2018 NLCS to the Dodgers in seven games.
Three painful postseason moments:
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Leading 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 7 of the 1982 World Series, the Cardinals load the bases with one out. Keith Hernandez hits a two-run single off Bob McClure and George Hendrick follows with a go-ahead single as the Cardinals go on to a 6-3 win. Brewers fans will always wonder what the outcome might have been if Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers, who got injured in September, had not missed the World Series.
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Pete Alonso‘s three-run, go-ahead home run in the ninth inning off Devin Williams in last year’s Game 3 of the wild-card series.
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Leading the Nationals 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth of the 2019 wild-card game, Josh Hader loads the bases with a hit batter, single and walk. With two outs, Juan Soto singles to right field and rookie Trent Grisham overruns the ball, allowing all three runners to score.
Why they haven’t won: Lack of offense has led to early playoff exits.
For a long time, the Brewers were just bad. They didn’t have a winning season from 1993 to 2006. Current owner Mark Attanasio bought the team from the Selig family in 2005, however, and after a breakthrough season in 2008, the Brewers have mostly been competitive since, despite the challenges of playing in MLB’s smallest market. The Prince Fielder-Ryan Braun teams were built around offense, but the teams under managers Craig Counsell and now Pat Murphy have centered more on pitching, defense, speed and doing the little things well.
While Christian Yelich was an MVP in 2018 and runner-up in 2019, the recent teams have often lacked one true offensive star to anchor the lineup. That’s one reason the Brewers have had trouble scoring enough runs in the postseason, and that has led to losses in that 2019 wild-card game and wild-card series in 2020, 2023 and 2024. They were in the NLDS in 2021, but scored just six runs in four games, including two shutouts. Overall, the Brewers have gone 2-10 in the playoffs since 2019 entering this year and have hit just .229/.290/.351.
Why this could be the year: Even though the Brewers still don’t have that superstar hitter and rank below average in home runs, this is a deep, good offensive team. Only the Yankees and Dodgers scored more runs during the regular season. Only the Blue Jays struck out less among the playoff teams. And the Brewers do have guys who can hit home runs: Yelich has had his best power season since 2019; Brice Turang has slugged over .500 in the second half; Jackson Chourio can hit it out; and William Contreras hit nine home runs in August, so if he gets hot at the right time, he can help carry a lineup.
The Brewers also earned the No. 1 overall seed and have played well at home, with a 51-29 record. That could be a nice advantage. And even without the injured Trevor Megill, this is a strong bullpen with hard-throwing Abner Uribe capable of closing down leads. The Brewers had the best record for a reason: They’ve quieted skeptics and have remained the most consistent team all season long.
Seattle Mariners
Last World Series title: None (franchise debuted in 1977).
Last World Series appearance: None.
Closest call: Lost the 1995 ALCS to Cleveland and the 2000 ALCS to the Yankees, both in six games. Also lost the 2001 ALCS in five games. Were up 2-1 in the 1995 ALCS against Cleveland, but a powerful Mariners lineup got shut out twice in the final three games.
Three painful postseason moments:
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Leading 1-0 and looking to tie the 2001 ALCS against the Yankees at two games apiece, New York’s Bernie Williams ties the game with an eighth-inning home run off Arthur Rhodes, and Alfonso Soriano hits a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth off Kazuhiro Sasaki.
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Rhodes again. In Game 6 of the 2000 ALCS, the Mariners are leading the Yankees 4-3 in the seventh when David Justice blasts a three-run homer off Rhodes and sends Yankee Stadium into a deafening roar.
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Back in the playoffs in 2022 for the first time since 2001, the Mariners lead the Astros 7-3 in the eighth inning in the division series. Alex Bregman hits a two-run homer in the eighth. With two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, manager Scott Servais summons starter Robbie Ray out of the bullpen to face Yordan Alvarez. Wrong decision. Alvarez blasts a game-winning three-run homer.
Why they haven’t won: Bad offenses and, for the longest time, bad drafting. And just missing the playoffs.
The Mariners couldn’t win in the mid-to-late ’90s despite a roster that featured Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez. Then came the miracle season of 2001, when they won a record 116 games with only Martinez still on the roster. Then came the long playoff drought, from 2002 to 2021. Those teams were marked mostly by inept offense: They once finished last in the AL in runs four straight seasons. In 2010, they traded for Cliff Lee and went all-in on pitching and defense. ESPN The Magazine put them on its cover. They lost 101 games.
Jerry Dipoto was hired as GM after the 2015 season and began turning things around. He drafted Logan Gilbert and George Kirby in the first round in 2018 and 2019, Cal Raleigh was a third-round pick in 2018, Bryan Woo was a sixth-round pick in 2021. The organization signed Julio Rodriguez in 2017. Since 2021, the Mariners have had five straight winning seasons and are seventh in the majors in wins — but this is only their second playoff appearance, having just missed in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Why this could be the year: With Raleigh’s historic campaign leading the way, this is the best offense the Mariners have had in 25 years, with their highest wRC+ since 2001. Dipoto’s deadline trades for Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez created one of the best one-through-nine groups in the majors. They ranked third in the majors in home runs, and Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Naylor (!) each stole 30 bases. The Mariners’ bullpen isn’t super deep, but the late-game foursome of Andres Munoz, Matt Brash, Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier has been reliable.
As that stretch of 17 wins in 18 games in September showed, the starting pitching might finally be living up to the preseason expectations following a stellar 2024 season. The concern is Woo’s health. Seattle’s best starter all season with 15 wins and a 2.97 ERA, Woo left his final start with inflammation in his pectoral muscle. The Mariners still have Gilbert, Kirby and Luis Castillo, but if the only franchise never to reach a World Series is to get there, a healthy Woo feels necessary.
Last World Series title: 1993
Last World Series appearance: 1993 (beat the Phillies in six games).
Closest call since then: Lost the 2015 ALCS in six games to Kansas City. Also lost the 2016 ALCS, in five games, to Cleveland.
Three painful postseason moments:
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Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS is tied in the eighth when Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain draws a leadoff walk. Eric Hosmer then singles to right field with Cain heading to third, and when Jose Bautista throws the ball into second base, Cain keeps on sprinting home for the winning run in a 4-3 victory.
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In Game 2 of that series, the Blue Jays lead 3-0 in the seventh, but manager John Gibbons leaves in a tiring David Price to give up five hits and five runs.
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The Blue Jays blow an 8-2 lead at home in Game 2 of the 2022 wild-card series against Seattle. The winning runs come up when J.P. Crawford clears the bases with a bloop double to center field as a diving George Springer collides with Bo Bichette.
Why they haven’t won: A tough division and the bats going dry in October.
After back-to-back World Series titles in ’92 and ’93, the Blue Jays went 20 years without a playoff appearance even though they were rarely bad in that period. They just couldn’t beat the Yankees and Red Sox or, later, the Rays and Orioles. They finally broke through and won the American League East in 2015 with the Josh Donaldson/Jose Bautista team that scored 127 more runs than any other AL team. They lost to the Royals in the ALCS that year and to Cleveland in 2016 — when the Jays scored just eight runs in five games. Remember when Cleveland had to start an obscure minor leaguer named Ryan Merritt, who had started one game in the majors, in Game 5 because they had no other starters? He tossed 4⅔ shutout innings.
In recent years, the Blue Jays went 0-6 in wild-card series in 2020, 2022 and 2023, scoring three runs in 2020, getting shut out once in 2022, and scoring one run in two games against the Twins in 2023. Entering 2025, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has hit .136 in six playoff games (no home runs, one RBI) and Bichette .273 with the same no home runs and one RBI.
Why this could be the year: This is a better Blue Jays club than those past three playoff teams. They have home-field advantage throughout the AL bracket and went 54-27 at home. Since May 27, only the Brewers have a better record, and they do things that work in postseason baseball: They play good defense and they had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors. Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber give them a strong 1-2 punch and rookie Trey Yesavage could be a huge secret weapon, either as a starter or reliever, despite just 14 innings in the majors. Plus, Guerrero and Bichette (if he’s healthy) are due to finally do something in October.
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