B1G commissioner asks NCAA to avoid further penalizing Michigan for sign-stealing
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti reportedly asked the NCAA not to penalize Michigan further in the sign-stealing scandal. The news comes via Dan Wetzel of ESPN.
Per Wetzel, Petitti sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The letter was read at an early June committee hearing in Indianapolis. Wetzel notes that the committee does not have to follow or consider any of Petitti’s recommendations.
Michigan was charged with 11 NCAA violations. Six of the violations were Level I, which are considered the most serious.
Wetzel reports, per sources, that Petitti argued that the Big Ten sufficiently punished Michigan. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the final 3 games of the 2023 regular season against Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State. The Wolverines won all 3 games en route to a B1G championship, College Football Playoff berth and national championship win.
The ESPN article notes that is quite a development in the relationship between Petitti and Michigan. In 2023, Michigan pushed back on Petitti’s suspension of Harbaugh, seeking a temporary restraining order to avoid the suspension. When U-M won the Big Ten Championship Game, Petitti was loudly booed during the postgame ceremony in Indianapolis.
The NCAA is expected to hand down a ruling on Michigan’s violations before the 2025 college football season. It was reported in May that Michigan has proposed suspending current head coach Sherrone Moore for the third and fourth games of the 2025 season. The suspension is tied to Moore deleting a text message thread with Connor Stalions, who organized the advanced scouting operation to steal signs.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
