By Rock Westfall
College Football Nation loathes the NCAA and has no respect for it. Many fans and commentators have called for the governing body to disband. But as I previously pointed out, while you can “fire” the NCAA, the bigger question is what would replace it, and would a new governing body even be any better?
The Michigan case is not one to be taken lightly. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated. Michigan must be punished, and punished harshly, for its crimes against college football. The NCAA must act now, without delay, to restore some integrity to the game.
For those not swayed by the Maize and Blue Kool-Aid, the University of Michigan's unbridled arrogance and conceit is a bitter pill to swallow. Their blatant disregard for fair play is a slap in the face to every college football fan, a betrayal of decency that should not and cannot be ignored. Yes, signals have been stolen since the game’s creation. But Michigan took things to another level with depraved delight that requires the most severe penalties.
Michigan has become what it once professed to disdain . Its brazen hypocrisy has brought it to the lowest of the low. An institution that for decades claimed to be above it all is now reveling in its scandalous victory while spiking the ball and dancing on decency.
The Connor Stalions case is not with ambiguity. It’s bold, blatant, and in our faces. This is not a question of what inducement or payment methods for players are being used, as was the case at Tennessee this past offseason. This is not about hard-to-prove academic cheating or the challenge of investigating and proving alleged abuse of women. Instead, this is a case of in-your-face, lying and cheating for a competitive advantage.
The NCAA's response to the Michigan scandal is not just about punishing a single institution. It's about the NCAA reclaiming its manhood, self-respect, and most importantly, its credibility. The Michigan spy scandal is a blemish on the game. The NCAA must act decisively, without hesitation, to restore a small but significant measure of integrity for college football.
Respect Previously Paid – Disrespect Should Not
In 2019, the University of Missouri went out of its way to cooperate with the NCAA over a seemingly minor scandal involving a tutor. Mizzou finished bowl-eligible but was not allowed to play in the postseason because of the incident. At the time, Mizzou fans and many commentators screamed that cooperation with the NCAA was a foolish waste of time. But in the long run, Mizzou’s policy proved correct. They quickly moved on and eventually reclaimed glory under Eli Drinkwitz .
In January 2021, the University of Tennessee fired head coach Jeremy Pruitt for cause after an in-house investigation of recruiting violations. Tennessee humbled itself to work with the NCAA and avoided a postseason ban due to what was termed “exemplary cooperation” by UT with the NCAA.
The cases of Tennessee and Missouri contrast starkly with Michigan’s defiant behavior. Michigan made no effort to cooperate or show humility. Instead, they've denied everything and taunted everyone to come after them, knowing that they would not. Michigan believes it can taunt the NCAA and defy the law because, well, it is Michigan. So far Michigan is right. Michigan is heartily enjoying the laugh of a lifetime.
Michigan Must Be Put on a Long Vacation
Michigan’s entitled fans are annoying in the best of times, but their inability to show humility for a past that has included grotesquely ugly coverups and deliberate omissions of history is also nauseating.
For decades, Michigan would sneer at Ohio State and its fans as bumpkins and werewolves. UM considered the SEC a renegade outlaw moonshine operation that offered a GED-level education on its best day. But after decades of failure and Jim Harbaugh ’s whiney lament that “you can’t beat the cheaters,” Michigan became the greatest cheaters of them all.
Michigan fans will smugly and flippantly blow off the Stalions affair, saying that they beat Ohio State, Alabama, and Washington without Stalions to win the 2023 national championship. What they ignore is that before Stalions' arrival, Harbaugh was facing termination after a 2020 season in which 2-4 Michigan called in sick to avoid getting obliterated by an Ohio State team that vowed to “Hang 100” on the Wolverines and likely could have done so.
Michigan and Harbaugh became perennial Big Ten champions and College Football Playoff participants after the arrival of Stalions as a volunteer and eventual hiring in 2022. Furthermore, when Stalions left the program last November, the spying system was so ingrained and sophisticated that it is reasonable to ask if it continued without him. Nick Saban and Alabama assumed so and took precautions for the CFP Rose Bowl matchup against Michigan.
The Michigan-Stalions caper is a golden opportunity for the NCAA to reaffirm the sport's governance. Somebody must oversee college football, and the NCAA is the body currently in charge. For now, it is all we have.
Following years of feckless feebleness under Mark Emmert, former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has had a year and a half to get a feel for the job. The time is now for Baker to assert his legacy with a brutal iron fist.
Michigan must pay by being stripped of its wins for the past three seasons, its Big Ten titles, and its national championship. Everything must be vacated. Nuke it.
Unlike Mizzou and Tennessee, Michigan did not play nicely, nor did it even hint at trying. They have humiliated the NCAA and Big Ten, making a mockery of what is left of the law.
And spare us the “Michigan is too big to fail” nonsense. The TV contracts are already set. Big Ten schools will still be paid regardless of Michigan’s status. The same holds for the College Football Playoff TV contract.
Of course, there is the threat of lawsuits. College football is a perpetual lawsuit. Pick a number and stand in line. But the time has come for courage and some semblance of law and order in college football.
The NCAA must bring the hammer or fold forever as a useless front for a criminal enterprise.
Charlie Baker, it is your move. You are now on the clock.
This is the NCAA’s hill to die on.
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