Mick McCabe| Special to Detroit Free Press
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After a six-hour game of cat-and-mouse Saturday with the media, Connor Stalions finally emerged from the friendly confines of Detroit Mumford.
Yes, that Connor Stalions.
He is the same Stalions who allegedly masterminded an elaborate scheme for Michigan football, where he was an analyst, to steal the signals opponents used to relay plays from the sidelines to the quarterback.
The NCAA investigation led to former U-M coach Jim Harbaugh being suspended for the final three regular-season games last season.
Stalions became relevant this summer when he joined first-year head coach William McMichael’s Mumford staff as a volunteer coach and defensive coordinator. News broke Friday of his move to Detroit high school football.
And Netflix is scheduled to run a documentary on Stalions called “Sign Stealer” on Aug. 27.
McMichael said he is not concerned about any NCAA rules Stalions may have violated at U-M.
“Naw, the NCAA really doesn’t have anything to do with high school football,” he said. “He had to go through a background check just like everybody else that comes into the Detroit community school district and he was able to pass that. As long as he passed that, I don’t have no problem with him.”
MYSTERY MAN: Connor Stalions’ drive unlocked his Michigan dream — and a sign-stealing scandal
Mumford was 1-8 in each of the past two seasons. This is McMichael’s first season as a head coach after being an assistant for more than 30 years.
If you wonder why some schools have difficulty fielding competent teams, Saturday’s dog-and-pony show was Exhibit A ... and B ... and C.
According to McMichael, Mumford was supposed to be on the field at 9 a.m., but the players were in the weight room then. Practice on the field was pushed back to 10 a.m., but at 10, McMichael came out of the school and said the players would be on the field at 12:30 p.m.
At 12:30 p.m., McMichael responded to a text saying practice would begin at 2 p.m.
That was switched to 2:45 p.m. and finally, McMichael said they would be on the field at 3:10 p.m..
On Friday, McMichael said he didn’t think Stalions would speak to the media but that the media was welcome to attend the practice.
Finally, at 3:10 p.m. the players came out of the school’s back door near the weight room where media waited, but Stalions wasn’t with them.
Instead, Stalions left via a front door and literally sprinted to the middle of the field, where he remained safe and sound away from media.
He looked like a wide receiver headed to the end zone with the defense in hot pursuit.
But there was no one chasing him and this was no media throng like you might see at a Lions practice. There was a reporter and a photographer from the Free Press, the Detroit News, and a reporter and cameraman from WWJ-TV (Ch. 62, CBS Detroit).
That’s it. Six people.
McMichael said Stalions claims he is not legally allowed to make a public statement until the Netflix documentary is released.
When asked if Stalions could say that for himself, or speak about coaching high school football at Mumford without mentioning the sign-stealing fiasco, McMichael said Stalions didn’t want to speak.
Except for the 21 players who came out for “disciplinary running,” the players were kept in the school for more than six hours.
Instead of practicing on the field at 9 a.m., during the coolest part of the day, the players didn’t hit the field until after 3 p.m. when the temperatures topped 80 degrees.
It made you wonder if all of this was done to protect Stalions, who left an indelible mark on the U-M program despite being a lowly off-field analyst.
In early August, Stalions was named by the NCAA as part of an investigation into the three-year period of purported sign-stealing, which has been labeled a Level I violation.
He is the same Stalions who grew up in Lake Orion and set his life’s ambition of being the head coach at U-M.
He is the same Stalions whose alleged scheme included buying tickets to future U-M opponents’ games and having people videotape the sideline signals for him from the stands.
The NCAA permits teams to scout during games, but staff members are not permitted to scout future opponents in-person ahead of time.
He is the same Stalions suspended with pay last October when U-M learned of an NCAA investigation, and the same Stalions who resigned in November for refusing to cooperate with NCAA investigators.
Teams on Mumford’s schedule may want to send in plays with running backs instead of trying to signal them into the quarterback.
McMichael said he met Stalions when his son, Jeremiah Beasley, an All-Stater from Belleville, was being recruited by U-M.
Beasley did sign with U-M and was an early enrollee, but transferred to Missouri before his freshman season this fall.
A mutual friend mentioned to McMichael that Stalions was looking to coach high school football.
“He wasn’t doing nothing,” McMichael said, “so I did an informal interview to see what he’s talking about, where he’s at and he seemed like a perfect fit.”
Stalions’ field of expertise comes on defense, ideal for the Mustangs.
“What we want to do,” McMichael said, “we want to mirror Michigan's defense, so who knows the defense better than he does?”
He was proven to be quite a hit for the players, who have formed a bond with someone who can be viewed by them as a big brother.
“He has a wealth of knowledge, great personality,” McMichael said. “The kids love him. And he’s young and enthusiastic; I think he’s still in his 20s. He relates to them.”
Stalions’ volunteer status is just what it indicates: He is doing this gig for free.
“If I had to pay him, I couldn’t afford him,” McMichael said.
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him atmick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him@mickmccabe1.
Order his new book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” right now atMcCabe.PictorialBook.com.
