Former D-III coach says U-M staffer hired him to record future Big Ten foes - ESPN

Suspended Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions compensated at least one person for recording future Wolverine opponents with «a couple hundred dollars» and a ticket to a Michigan home game, according to the person.

The man, a former Division III football player and coach, spoke to ESPN on the condition that his name not be published because he was concerned about his privacy. He is the first person who was involved in the alleged cheating scheme to publicly share details about their role.

He said he attended three Big Ten games during the past two years to record the sidelines of a future Michigan opponent. He said he uploaded the videos he took on his personal cellphone to a shared iPhone photo album but does not know who else other than Stalions had access to the album.

He said he was wary of Stalions' plan «to a degree» when he was first approached to record the games but felt that if someone from Michigan's staff was asking him to do this that it must fall safely in the gray area of college football's sign-stealing rules.

«I didn't like it, but it's a gray line,» he said. «You can call me naive, but no one is reading the bylaws. I'm not a contractual lawyer.… I just felt like if you're not doing it, you're not trying to get ahead.»

It is against NCAA rules for staff members of a football program to scout games of future opponents in person. The NCAA football rulebook also prohibits «an opposing player, coach or other team personnel» from recording an opponent's signals through audio or video. The NCAA is investigating claims that Michigan used a large network of individuals to record games of future opponents. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh denied any knowledge of the alleged scheme in a statement last week. A