Connor Stalions Michigan 'Sign Stealer' documentary confirms suspicion that should resonate with college football fans

Connor Stalions and the Michigan sign stealing controversy has been at the center of the college football universe for nearly a year now. And despite the investigation into Michigan still being underway, that did not stop Netflix from putting together a documentary on the whole the debacle.

While there has already been plenty of debate about what to believe or how much we actually learned from the "Untold: Sign Stealer" documentary, one thing is abundantly clear throughout. And it's something all college football fans (if they're honest) can resonate with when it comes to the best sport ever invented. Connor Stalions is an absolutely crazy dedicated Michigan Wolverines football fan.

Connor Stalions' rise to Deciphering Signals

As more and more details began to emerge about the Connor Stalions signal stealing scandal for Michigan it became clear that he wasn't just a staff member. He was much more than that. He was the perfect example of truly bizarre, extreme fandom that exists in college football. He would do anything to help make sure Michigan succeeded. And as the Netflix documentary emphasized, that obsession with Michigan football began at a very young age for Connor Stalions.

"Ever since I was three years old I always knew I wanted to coach...From a really young age, [my parents] passion for Michigan rubbed off on me right away."

As a montage of grainy home videos from Stalions' childhood played on the screen he and his parents talked through just how determined he was--even from a very young age--to be a Michigan football coach.

"Connor has always been a very focused, driven kid. And he knew from a young age that he wanted to be the head football coach at the University of Michigan." - Stalion's father

When it would come time for Halloween, while Stalions' friends might dress up in more typical costumes he would be dressed up as a Michigan football coach. And that fanaticism only grew as he got older. In fact, Stalions went as far as to say that a huge part of his decision in pursuing the naval academy was because the majority of the greatest coaches of all time in college football had military backgrounds. Every early step in his life was centered around making sure he was on track to be the next great football coach.

Once at the Naval Academy, Stalions' first student coaching gig was deciphering coaching signals for the Navy football team. And his first game? It came against Ohio State. And as Stalions talked through that first game, he shared a bit of the process behind deciphering signals.

"An offense has up to 8 signalers. They're not all live. Some of them are bluff--they're fake--signalers. You have to have that if you want to protect your signals. You can shuffle them around. You can switch it every drive. I realized pretty quickly how simple it is to just know which signaler is the live signaler. You just look at the players. You look at them, when they look away. 'So, okay, that guy's definitely the live signaler."

Stalions quickly studied Ohio State's offense amid that first game back in August of 2014--in what should have been a blowout victory for the Buckeyes--and started to see immediate results based on his calls within the game.

"Then you start just writing down what he does. You run a play twice, well then I'm going to know it the second time. By the third possession of the game I'm yelling out, 'Power right! Power right!', and the defensive coordinator didn't even really know who I was. It was my first game. He looks [back] like, 'Who's this?', and I'm just yelling out what [Ohio State] is about to do."

Navy inevitably lost the game, but it was a competitive 34-17 final score. From that game forward deciphering signals became Stalions' way to contribute, and it was just the beginning.

In 2017 Stalions went to Jim Harbaugh's coaching clinic with his dad. Between speeches Stalions introduced himself to the Michigan linebackers coach at the time, Chris Partridge. Stalions asked Partridge if there was anything he could do for the program the following week, mentioning that he used to decipher signals in his time at Navy. Partridge surprisingly answered that he didn't believe the team had anyone working on that, and allowed Stalions to begin working with the team. However, it wasn't on any full time basis at all

Stalions would have to fly on his own dime to follow Michigan to away games. He would study opponents for countless hours. And in 2018, Stalions learned about an underground community of college football analysts who traded information every Sunday following any given weekend's games. It's important to note that this practice was entirely within the rule set as it was perfectly fine to decipher signs and share that kind of information.

Connor Stallions quickly realized that Michigan was "at the bottom of this intelligence operations totem pole" in deciphering opponents signals and strategies. But he was determined to change that.

"Based on my experience, 80-90% of teams have one of those intel operations staff members. So, when I started to learn this culture of college football intelligence operations...Here I am, a captain in the marine corps figuring out, well, they can't be better than I can be at this, right?"

In 2021, Michigan football staff approached Stalions because they had become aware that several teams had been stealing their signals and had heard he was the guy with answers there. That realization and implementation of his signal deciphering strategies ended up helping him move up from intern to full time staff with the team. In fact, as the Netflix documentary highlighted, Jim Harbaugh went as far as awarding Connor Stalions with a game ball following a victory over Iowa in 2022.

Stalions' Process and Sign Stealing Controversy

But how did he do it? And what set Connor Stalions' process apart to help him be deemed to valuable to the Michigan organization?

Stalions put together what he calls a "game day sheet" of two to three thousand pictures of every signal that Michigan had used, and any other signal he had ever seen other teams use as well. He took hundreds, thousands of pictures of himself to create the sheet. Instead of memorizing play calls, he was memorizing signals for various route combinations, formations, and plays. And he credited that process as being a significant source for his success in deciphering signals (as you can see in one of the trailers for documentary below).

Stalions' incredible amount of work eventually paid off as the entire Michigan sideline began to communicate whether upcoming plays were going to be a pass or run. Fans from around the country could plainly see teammates signaling from the sideline on national television broadcasts following Stalions' directions (especially notable against Ohio State in 2022). But again, that kind of signal stealing within a game from the opposite sideline is not against any NCAA rules .

The issues came when allegations arose involving "advanced scouting" where Stalions' and/or his constituents would supposedly record opponent sidelines weeks in advance in person at games all around the country. That kind of practice is very much against NCAA rules .

Stalions of course denied the allegations concerning "advanced scouting" for him personally. For example, Stalions' was supposedly seen on the Central Michigan sideline wearing sunglasses that looked like they may have a recording device embedded in them. That kind of thing is very much against the rules . However, Stalions "didn't recall a particular game" in which he attended with intent to conduct "advanced scouting" when asked about the Central Michigan incident. He went one step further in one documentary scene recorded in his car:

"First of all, one, I've never advanced scouted. Two, if this is about signals, I obtain signals the same way every other team does. Through watching tv copies and talking to other intel guys from other teams. And what set me apart was the way in which I organized that information and processed it on game day."

After everything blew up on a national scale--when he was on the front page of most every website and newspaper--Connor Stalions pursued a law firm to help him sort through everything. He and his team felt that what was best for the Michigan program was that he resign. So, that's exactly what he did. And not only that, but Stalions also wanted to make sure that his legal team sent in an official statement in hopes of exonerating coach Harbaugh:

"Neither Jim Harbaugh nor anyone else on the staff told anyone to break any rules or were aware of any improper conduct regarding the recent allegations."

Stalions just wanted to help the team move on so they could win a championship, even on his way out the door. Unfortunately, that meant that his childhood dream and life's work to that point would be immediately put to an end.

"And that was the last time I heard from anyone. I went from watching football film all day every day, prepping for practice, prepping linebacker meetings...And then overnight, I can't do any of that. I can't even talk to them. And every day it's article after article after article, and there's nothing I could do...Ever since I could remember, Michigan has been a huge part of my life. And for that to be stripped away overnight was pretty devastating."

In the end, the Netflix documentary did a great job outlining Stalions' process and confirming to us all that he's just the wildly driven college football fan we all thought he was after news of his Michigan "manifesto" released. He's just a person. A hard working, fanatical follower of Michigan. A true college football fan.

It may end up being confirmed true that Connor Stalions broke NCAA rules. But as much as most fans may hate him for what he allegedly did to help Michigan, that crazy level of fandom exists within many (perhaps most) who follow the sport. And that wild fanaticism is actually part of what makes college football great.

Sadly (and unsurprisingly) the documentary didn't really share any new information concerning the investigation into Michigan. Stalions did his best to not admit anything specific that would further incriminate him or the university. And the investigation is still very much underway.

As for where Stalions is now, he has already long since moved on. He is now a defensive coordinator at Mumford High School in Detroit, Michigan. Hopefully he can continue to live out his dream of being a great football coach there despite his hopes of leading the Maize and Blue likely being long gone.

Be looking for more College Football and Michigan Wolverines coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!