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Central Michigan is investigating whether suspended Michigan staffer Connor Stalions was on the CMU sideline during the Chippewas’ Sept. 1 game at Michigan State, the school said Tuesday. Screenshots of a person who looks similar to Stalions began circulating online Monday night, and The Athletic obtained more photos of the person on the sideline on Tuesday.

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“We became aware of these photos late yesterday and we are in the process of determining the facts surrounding them,” CMU athletic director Amy Folan said in a statement provided to The Athletic. “As this process is ongoing, we have no further comment at this time.”

The Central Michigan staff has several former Michigan staffers, including head coach Jim McElwain, defensive backs coach Michael Zordich and quarterbacks coach Jake Kostner, all of whom worked at Michigan while Stalions volunteered for the Wolverines.

“We obviously are aware of a picture floating around with the sign-stealer guy,” McElwain said Tuesday night after CMU’s game against Northern Illinois. “Our people are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of it. We’re totally unaware of it. I certainly don’t condone it in any way, shape or form. I do know his name was on none of the passes that were let out. We keep tracing it back and tracing it back and try to figure it out. It’s in good hands with our people. Again, there’s no place in football for that.”

The person resembling Stalions was seen on the FS1 broadcast in the CMU bench area, but typically away from most of the team and the coaches with on-field headsets. He wore sunglasses. The man was dressed in the same Adidas shirt, pants and shoes as most of the CMU staff and was wearing a visiting bench pass. He was often seen next to who appears to be the director of recruiting Michael McGee.

Central Michigan is investigating if the person on the right here is Connor Stalions on the CMU sideline at Michigan State earlier this season.

AD Amy Folan: “We became aware of these photos late yesterday and we are in the process of determining the facts surrounding them." pic.twitter.com/ncazAghBbS

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 31, 2023

In some instances during the game, the person was seen holding a large sheet or board, but what was on it was unclear. At other times, he did not have it.

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The game, Michigan State’s season opener, was played on a Friday night. Michigan hosted East Carolina the following afternoon. If the man on the CMU sidelines is indeed Stalions, this would be the first known example of him attending the game of a Michigan opponent in person weeks before the opponent played the Wolverines.

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Stalions bought tickets to watch at least 7 Michigan opponents: Sources

Stalions, who was suspended with pay by Michigan on Oct. 20, is at the center of the NCAA’s investigation into an alleged scouting and sign-stealing scheme. Stalions bought tickets to games in at least seven Big Ten stadiums before those teams played the Wolverines over the past three seasons, including the 2023 season, sources told The Athletic earlier this month. Purchasing the tickets is not a violation of NCAA rules, but using them to scout and record other teams would violate the rules prohibiting in-person, on-campus scouting and the audio or video recording of signals.

NEW: @TheAthletic has obtained more photos of the goatee'd sunglasses person on the Central Michigan sideline at Michigan State.

CMU is looking into whether this is Connor Stalions.

Story: https://t.co/79siEcZ89r pic.twitter.com/R5AyslTIWF

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 31, 2023

One of Michigan’s Big Ten opponents told The Athletic that it has in-stadium surveillance footage that shows someone filming their team’s sideline from one of the seats purchased by Stalions. The filming was done on the individual’s smartphone.

Another school source told The Athletic that tickets under Stalions’ name were bought five times over the past three seasons, always near the 50-yard line and sometimes on both sides of the stadium. Multiple outlets reported that Stalions also purchased tickets to the games that involved potential College Football Playoff opponents, including Clemson, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.

In 2015, then-Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was suspended a half-game by the school for being on the sideline of a Tulsa-Oklahoma game that season, violating the NCAA in-person scouting rule. Lebby, who was close with then-Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery and previously worked as a student assistant at OU, had been in town for a wedding during an idle week. Baylor suspended him for the first half of the game against Oklahoma that season.

GO DEEPER

Mandel: If Michigan is guilty of allegations, will Big Ten protect integrity of its contests?

(Top photo is a screenshot from the game broadcast on Fox Sports 1 of the Central Michigan sideline during the Chippewas’ Sept. 1 game at Michigan State)

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