The University of Michigan Football Cheating Scandal

I don’t have the time to do a detailed breakdown of this, but I want to put a marker here regarding what is going on. I’ve followed the story closely and in detail the past two weeks. Many people do not realize this goes far beyond the sign stealing because they are only getting their updates from the MSM.

(Full disclosure: I am a graduate of Michigan State University.)

I want to note this thought: This is way bigger than UM and even the Big Ten (B1G). Something else is in play here and driving this. Knowing how pervasive the corruption is in the state of Michigan (including Konnech) and how compromised so many state leaders are, it would make sense this corruption and blackmail extends to UM. The fanboy actions of the UM president (Santa Ono) alone are mind-boggling.

It also seems to me this is tracking in similar ways to the exposure of the deep state nationally (and world-wide). Data collection done slowly and methodically. Slow reveal to allow people to adjust to what is being shown.

Here are some markers off the top of my head. Over time we’ll see how these play out.

This official Big Ten Conference statement document (PDF will open) is a detailed overview from the Big Ten Commissioner and the reason why I don’t think this is going away for UM.

The B1G and NCAA are working together. The NCAA is fast-tracking this (and they are constantly ridiculed for taking years to deal with any cheating issues). The NCAA knows FAR MORE than anyone realizes and it appears this investigation was happening many months before it hit the mainstream. From the document above:

As discussed above, the Conference’s investigation began when the NCAA’s President took the extraordinary step of notifying the Conference and the University of its active investigation expressly because of the unprecedented scope of the impermissible scheme and the significant impact it could have on competition this season. The NCAA has also communicated to the Conference that it knows and can prove that the impermissible scheme occurred, and the evidence it has provided to the Conference and the University supports that statement.

Whatever is going on is so bad that B1G teams were warned in advance and given the option of opting out of their games against UM the past few weeks.

The FBI is involved.

The B1G has apparently engaged the services of a significant law firm (Sidley). (I saw this reliably discussed, but don’t have a link for confirmation.)

The firm has built a reputation for successfully representing clients in more than 70 countries on complex transactional, investigation, regulatory, and litigation matters spanning a range of legal areas.

Why can’t they simply use their own lawyers? The B1G must have excellent lawyers, but they aren’t enough for this case?

It is likely the IRS may be involved, but that has not been expressly stated as it was with the FBI.

The new B1G commissioner made it clear in his lengthy statement released on Friday that he’s not playing favorites with Michigan over the other 13 teams (13 now with 4 more coming from PAC 10).

Central Michigan University is cooperating with the investigation and will not be making any more public statements.

The UM president has made his full support known for the cheating football program.

LLCs were apparently set up to launder money through. Some of them apparently include vacuum cleaners, but I didn’t have time to follow that story. One of the players (Corum) is apparently part owner of one of the LLCs. He denies knowing about it so either he is lying or people connected with UM put his name on the LLC without his knowledge. Either way, it is bad. If it is true that Corum knew, he was ineligible to play and every game he played in would need to be forfeited.

A staff member’s computer was seized and he was dismissed when allegedly the worst kind of material involving children was found on his computer. This was in the news.

Another staff member was caught meeting an under-aged girl (15) with alcohol and knew she was under-aged. This was in the news.

It is alleged that UM coaches and/or staff accessed practice video from Ohio State in the cloud. This story hasn’t fully developed yet.

The B1G commissioner has met numerous times with the presidents of the B1G universities over the past week, even skipping an important national meeting last week to stay in Chicago with them.

UM’s dismissal from the B1G may be on the table given the scope of what is involved. I refer you back to my previous comment about the slow reveal to allow people to digest what is happening. If – and I’m saying IF – you are planning to take significant actions against a large university, you need to make sure you have every bit of info correct and people can see it coming. This is what makes the statements of the UM president so bizarre. He isn’t acting like the leader of an academic institution. It’s like he has totally thrown in with the football program at the expense of everything else. It makes no sense that he isn’t doing massive damage control on behalf of the rest of the university.

UM is well-practiced at playing the victim card, bullying, and getting their way. They have done it for their entire existence. They will continue to play the victim and deny anyone else has suffered due to their choices.

The cheating and law-breaking appears to be so egregious that it seems all of the B1G is united against UM – head coaches, university presidents, fans, etc. I don’t see anyone other than bought-and-paid-for lackeys in the media supporting UM in any significant way.

This cheating scandal has impacted other conferences, coaches, players, etc. For every “success” UM had (team, players, coaches), others were robbed of bowl games, draft rankings, coaching bonuses, coaching jobs, injuries, etc. Once you start unraveling this, UM has apparently been robbing a significant portion of college football the past three years (at least).

I’m sure I’ve forgotten things and this story will pick up as there is some kind of hearing on Friday.

If you are following this story, feel free to add updates to the comments.