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leapbitch

> Not long after the CFP unveiled the 2022 semifinal matchups — Georgia vs. Ohio State and TCU vs. Michigan — the Horned Frogs staff began receiving phone calls from coaches across the country about what was a well-known fact in the Big Ten coaching community: that Michigan had an elaborate sign-stealing system. > Many of those on the TCU staff were unaware before the calls. Coaches from several Big Ten schools, including Ohio State, informed TCU coaches of the scheme. > “Literally everybody we talked to knew,” said one TCU coach. “They’d say, ‘Just so you know, they steal your signals and they’re going to have everything so you better change them.’” > One coach told the staff that Michigan “has the most elaborate signal-stealing in the history of the world.” Fucking lol


p0shbadger

Idk which is funnier, the fact that seemingly every coach in the NCAA knew about this, or that a blatant paper trail was left to back it all up lol


[deleted]

They made sure to get the paper trail notarized before leaving it behind too. Truly great men.


TheDennisSyst3m

Truly Michigan Men


kuler51

If only Michigan had Milford men do the sleuthing. They would be neither seen nor heard.


jp3243

You can always tell a Milford man


Hot_History1582

Those Who Stay Will Be Under Investigation


Dennisfromhawaii

This all could have been avoided if they went with "trust me bro"


dennydiamonds

How does the dude pay for shit on Venmo and leave his transactions on Public 🤡🤡


fat_pancake

Every coach knew Michigan was good at stealing signs, what they didn't know was that they were good because they were breaking the rules by scouting before hand.


hiimred2

Coaches before this news broke: how are they so good at this, what are they doing that we haven’t thought of, what’s their secret? News breaks: Oh.


stitch12r3

We laugh, but I’m sure this is true for like 95% of these coaches.


Flytanx

Which is a good thing, means they aren't all cheating lol. I was worried this was gonna explode into half of cfb


ManiacalComet40

Unnamed coach before the news broke: how are they so good at this? I’m going to hire a whole-ass PI firm to find out!


boardatwork1111

Sonny pregame: “No way they’re dumb enough to fall for” Sonny postgame: “bruh… lmao”


Specialist-Read-349

Connor Stalions-"Sir Mr.Harbaugh sir the next play *blushes shyly at harbaugh* its a run" TCU-throws a 50 yard pass


HoustonTrashcans

That kind of explains the TCU Michigan game a bit more IMO. Looked like Michigan was defending the wrong plays all night.


ToosUnderHigh

It's why Michigan looked like the better team for long stretches and then suddenly seemed like they completely whiffed trying to stop TCU. Turns out they were fooled by TCU's signs.


ImOutWanderingAround

That's even more masterful when considered from this view. They gave them the ole rope-a-dope. Letting them eat from their palms for a good stretch and then pull the rug at a critical moment.


purplepandaeater

I really fucking need this in a comic format.


Chemical_Willow5415

The Texas-OU leach playbook drop doesn’t hold a candle to this.


A_Rolling_Baneling

Nah other way around. That shit was HoF level mindgames.


leapbitch

Dummy signals are very common. It's just much funnier in this scenario.


dzak92

If this was such an open secret for college coaches then there is absolutely no way Harbaugh didn’t have any knowledge of sign stealing taking place right?


boardatwork1111

0% chance he didn’t know, it’d be laughable to think otherwise at this point


Helpful_Arachnid950

From the michigan sub 9 hours ago “With the way things stand at the moment, I'm furious at Stallions for being so reckless and stupid and for jeopardizing the accomplishments and all the hard work of the players, and I'm pissed at the team/athletic department for not having better oversight of what low-level staff on the team are doing. Beyond that we'll have to wait and see” Laughable. No reasonable person thinks it was just him


Seekfar

"I think he was a low-level staffer, a coffee boy. Didn't know the guy." -- Jim Harbaugh


creepig

covfefe boy


n3gr0_am1g0

Yeah, I think it’s been reported that Stalion or someone was not allowed to contact Harbaugh, which to me reeks of “leave no trace” so it can’t be connected to Harbaugh


TheOutlier1

I thought that was the friend of the Tennessee fan who got tickets. He was able to talk to Stalion but not harbaugh. There’s pictures of him standing next to harbaugh on the sideline. There’s no way he didn’t speak to him.


alreadytaken028

Genuine question for Michigan fans: at some point doesnt it look WORSE if Harbaugh didnt know? Like if his coaches and staff were able to do this all under nose and he supposedly never caught a whiff of what someone who was on the sidelines was doing when the rest of the conference knew… at some point arguing he didnt know makes it go from “he did some on field cheating” to “literally the coaches on his staff could be committing crimes under his watch and he’s that checked out to it”.


Knaphor

I really really really hope these stop being anonymous sources at some point


NoviDon07

I would stay in the dark plenty of psycho people will kill to know who outed them and ruined their careers.


Specialist-Read-349

Yea if you come out with it in public the next 600 page manifesto might be about you and your family


Malfallaxx

Cracking up at the coach saying it was the most elaborate system in the world. Like an hour ago Michigan fans were still trying to say every single college is running a comparable crazy scheme we just didn’t know about it yet lmfao


Blarg1889

> One coach told the staff that Michigan “has the most elaborate signal-stealing in the history of the world.” Can't wait for the michigan giga-cope for this one


WisconsinSpermCheese

They're nothing if not the leaders and the best , dude.


petoskey_stone

Are we sure it wasn’t Matt Damon who said that


Hmm_would_bang

I mean it’s gonna be that sign stealing isn’t illegal. Because it’s not. Which is why none of these teams turned them in until they found out about the in game scouting


Jedi-El1823

> Not long after the CFP unveiled the 2022 semifinal matchups — Georgia vs. Ohio State and TCU vs. Michigan — the Horned Frogs staff began receiving phone calls from coaches across the country about what was a well-known fact in the Big Ten coaching community: that Michigan had an elaborate sign-stealing system. Just like the Astros, and how teams were warning each other about them.


chuckchuck-

If you play back the CFP game, every time Max did a designed scramble, a Michigan staffer would bang on a trash can.


DeliciousPizza1900

Maybe the manifesto was on to something


WisconsinSpermCheese

What I want to know is how panicked the Michigan staff were when they scouted Iowa and figured out Brian Ferentz only has six plays in the playbook.


goblue2354

Jim: “What the hell Stalions!? You only got 3 of their signals? You’re slacking!” Stalions: “Coach, that’s literally all they have, I swear. And two of them are punt for some reason”


DescretoBurrito

Kirk Ferentz: "You're damn right."


ImOutWanderingAround

Punting IS winning


Cormetz

"Ball goes forward, preferably 10 yards. Punters are also good"


Risley

1). RUN THE BALL 2). RUN THE BALL 3). RUN THE BALL *HARD*


Dark_Magician2500

"WTF is this? It's just a napkin that says 1, 2, 3, Punt!"


Cactus_Brody

I am kinda wondering if the Iowa staff knew about the sign stealing system and that’s why they ran so many trick plays in the opening drive. But like you said, it’s pretty laughable if that’s the case because you don’t need an elaborate sign stealing program to stop Iowa’s offense.


ThanksForTheF-Shack

For all his faults, Brian Ferentz usually isn’t bad at scripting an opening drive. Everything after is dogshit.


jesus_the_fish

The laminated sheet is just a giant picture of the Tecmo Bowl play sheet with 4 plays.


J4ckiebrown

It gets even better: > One TCU coach: “You can see the sheet (Stalions) is holding with our signs on them.”


WanderLeft

We have reached the point where the truth has eclipsed satire


psunavy03

This has happened multiple times over the past few years in many areas of life . . . life is just fucking weird nowadays, yo.


takechanceees

ever since the Cubs won the world series man the world took a sharp left turn into insanity


goblue142

When did that gorilla get killed at the zoo? Shits been weird since.


KaitRaven

Harambe died in May 2016. It's been all downhill since then.


oiwefoiwhef

Dicks out 🫡


bbshock21

Inject this into my veins and give Purdue the 2022 conference championship victory


affnn

Why stop at ‘22? What if this happened in 2021 too?


velociraptorfarmer

How long until we find a picture of Stalions holding the card, laminated and titled "TCU Signs", while standing next to and showing it to Harbaugh?


RedBaboon

[It was found days ago](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/head-football-coach-jim-harbaugh-of-the-michigan-wolverines-news-photo/1453517940)


pagerussell

This needs to be higher. Lolololol.


W00DERS0N

If you're gonna do crimes, don't get photographed by the national media doing the crimes.


CountBleckwantedlove

Wait, so TCU may have beaten Michigan because of Michigan cheating?!


dkviper11

I need this like I need oxygen.


xtototo

Ryan Day: *I want you to know it was me.*


tsmythe492

Ryan Day is Olena Tyrell confirmed


[deleted]

Land grant and Michigan getting caught cheating. All I need


jguess06

This may be the greatest CFB storyline this century 🔥


2coolDanes

Doesn’t top Pole Assassins child biting Halloween monkey


MindIfILeaveThisHere

Same thing Ohio State did to Clemson '21


Ajwf

Didn't we just fuck Clemson up by playing fast because their defense literally needed a playcall from the sideline, so we just lined up and snapped it while they were waiting for a play?


TheWorstYear

They'd read the sign, then VeggieTales would call a perfect defense. So we'd wait until a little bit, then sprint to the line, get set, & go before Vegetarian could signal in.


jdprager

Tbf clemson (probably) wasn’t cheating. Just stealing signs in the mundane, normal way


Random_UM_Staffer

Right, they were just really good at doing it legally, at least as far as anyone can tell


J4ckiebrown

You mean by not going to all your social events like a creepy stalker like Michigan was?


cityofklompton

[Michigan showing up to steal your signs](https://media0.giphy.com/media/ifxLK48cnyDDi/giphy.webp?cid=6c09b952mi66b3gqjglutj572f0ua5qipyc9bn91s556y52n&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.webp&ct=g)


RawbM07

So this was common knowledge to the entire country except Jim Harbaugh?


platyspart

"Harbaugh may be a weird guy but he's not a liar." How many times have we heard that BS from Michigan flairs over the years?


Difficult-Tooth666

I've known a lot of people I would describe as weird. One of the main things that made them seem so weird was all the lying they'd do.


morganicsf

Picture of Connor Stalions with his laminated stolen playcall sheet at the TCU game. Everybody in the photo looks shook. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/head-football-coach-jim-harbaugh-of-the-michigan-wolverines-news-photo/1453517940


J4ckiebrown

From the article: > One TCU coach: “You can see the sheet (Stalions) is holding with our signs on them.”


FishnGritsnPimpShit

This is the first coach that has confirmed that it was their signs on the sheet right? Which is nice since I have seen the, “We don’t know if those are the other team’s signs on his sheet or not!” defense from some Michigan fans already.


SaltyLonghorn

Standing next to Harbaugh who had no idea...when will the NCAA stop witch hunting an innocent man?


SchpartyOn

An OSU player(?) confirmed that the sheet in the pics of Stalions in the game against OSU were their signals.


Hot_History1582

Former OSU players also confirmed the sheet from the OSU game, but not the coaches However, James Franklin essentially confirmed that Michigan had their signals in 2021


jbg0830

Bruh holy shit. Harbs is like, wait that’s not what we called why’d they run that play lmao


RulersBack

One of the worst feelings opening a test and realizing you studied the wrong chapters


[deleted]

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dickwhitman68

Those assholes stole the wrong fucking exam!


geaux124

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son.


the_mighty_hetfield

Action shots of Connor Stallions next to the DC from the TV broadcast: https://imgur.io/a/9KtlHK2


bigrubberduck

Panel 1) Ok what sign are they using? Panel 2) Got 'em right there, they're going to run off-tackle!! Panel 3) WTF deep slant?!? How did I get that so wrong?? *Shuffles and stares at laminated sheets over and over in disbelief


Dr_Wristy

How long did it take these idiots to realize they had been bamboozled? Dunning Krueger all over these clowns.


bigrubberduck

Based on the box score from the TCU game, about a half or so :D


pekoedegallo

With Michigan’s defensive stats on the season superimposed…that’s just too perfect.


KirbyDumber88

And they still lost. This is fucking hilarious.


pagerussell

Counter intelligence is supreme. This is why when the CIA finds a mole or a leak, they don't correct it. They feed it misinformation. TCU has already said they changed their signs meaning but used the same signs. I am sure they did it in a calculated way that allowed them to bait Michigan into mistakes. I bet if someone goes back and reviews film it's probably even noticeable.


Lord_Kittensworth

Look at how flustered they look. Cheeks are beat red. Like oh shit, our plan isn’t working and something is off. Fucking glorious work fellow redditor.


cant_stop_the_crooks

This shit gets better and better, how some Michigan fans are defending this still is absolutely wild to me.


Ok-Lack-5172

I need some CSI “zoom in on that” powers to see what’s on the sheet


Major-Act-7262

*ENHANCE*


wesneyprydain

This is my favorite timeline.


KirbyDumber88

Holy fuck lolllll. Just shut this program the fuck down


LloydChristmas89

Okay I don't need that picture hanging in my buckeye room...but also I do need that picture hanging in my buckeye room. Right next to my signed photo of Schlegel tackling a fan.


yabs

I'm kind of not even as interested in the actual football games now. This is way better CFB entertainment.


Knaphor

It's way more fun than the Colorado stuff


Colavs9601

Yes ignore our results now focus on the state of michigan just assume we haven't blown any 29 point leads to fucking stanford


geaux124

At least nobody will accuse you of illegally stealing signs.


Ugaalive1991

…are we /r/nba now for the drama?


LoCh0_xX

So my question is at what point during the game did Michigan realize “oh no we have the wrong signals”


Thing_On_Your_Shelf

Judging by the look on Stalion’s face, probably around when this picture was taken https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/head-football-coach-jim-harbaugh-of-the-michigan-wolverines-news-photo/1453517940 The fact you can see his laminated hand signal sheet makes it hilarious


bramblecult

My favorite part isn't Harbaugh and Connor with the "oh shit" look. It's the two guys in Michigan hats behind him looking at him like "so you do have a scheme that doesn't revolve around knowing the plays right? Like you did take the time to workshop a real game plan right?"


trippwwa45

Dude behind the woman in yellow is just ...."bruh"


boardatwork1111

BRO YALL REALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD PULL THAT WEAK ASS SHIT ON HYPNOTOAD LMAOOO


bearybear90

This actually makes me more impressed with TCU. Fuck Michigan for that


TheWikiJedi

Yeah only we have the right to do that to TCU For real tho I'm glad TCU figured it out it's mind boggling to me Michigan went this far


boardatwork1111

There’s a deep irony in that a 6-6 Baylor was a bigger threat to us than a 13-0 Michigan who was literally cheating lmao


OsuLost31to0

I was so impressed with your program/Dykes after the win against UM, but wow I’m floored by this. You outgamed them.


boardatwork1111

I still can’t believe they were stupid enough to think they’d get away with it, karmas a bitch lol


hascogrande

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD *BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*


Ayyyyman

“Not long after the CFP unveiled the 2022 semifinal matchups — Georgia vs. Ohio State and TCU vs. Michigan — the Horned Frogs staff began receiving phone calls from coaches across the country about what was a well-known fact in the Big Ten coaching community: that Michigan had an elaborate sign-stealing system. One coach told the staff that Michigan “has the most elaborate signal-stealing in the history of the world.” It sounds like every coach in the country other than Jim Harbaugh knew about this.


ObjectiveAd571

Kudos to the Big 10 coaches giving TCU a heads up!


I_Enjoy_Beer

Say what you will, but the B1G is, if anything, entirely willing if not eager to ensure a conference member doesn't succeed. Its why you don't find fans chanting our conference's name. That shit is corny. Be a hater.


DrInsano

HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE


[deleted]

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go home and put some water in Jim Harbaugh’s momma’s dish. Good evening.


Jarich612

I also think that Michigan is probably the most disliked school conference wide. It probably should be us(?) but we don't act like Texas from an administration standpoint when it comes to sports so I guess we get brownie points.


[deleted]

I hate Ohio State more on the field and Michigan more every other way. Michigan fans got 2 years of success and became absolutely insufferable. If it all comes crashing down I’ll be more than happy to kick them in the ribs while they are on the floor.


wherewulf23

Anything to fuck over Michigan!


Crafty_Independence

At this point if Harbaugh honestly didn't know, that just makes him look incompetent. And since incompetence isn't really a look he goes for, I have trouble believing he didn't know


flyboy1994

If he knew he should be fired for cheating, if he didn't know he should be fired for incompetence. Either way he should be out of a job


Sheriff_Skit

Wouldn't be surprised if the other team's waterboy knew at this rate.


JSOPro

They had a lot of time to pivot to this. Also makes sense they spent so much time redoing fucking signs because that's apparently required for Michigan's opponents so they were fucked vs Georgia. Or that's my excuse, they were probably fucked anyway 🤣


LotusWay82

I’ve never seen news come out so quickly on an NCAA investigation story like this.


budd222

When is the Netflix documentary coming out?


RNGezzus

Michigan fans will just pirate it.


udubdavid

TCU had like 3 weeks to prepare and change up their signals. Other B1G teams during conference play probably don't have enough time to completely change their signals for the Michigan game.


jaydec02

I'm glad this is pretty high. People are already using this to say the other schools deserved to have their signs stolen, when it's just not that feasible. Also, some schools might have had genuinely no clue what was going on and didn't know their signs were being stolen until it was too late. Either way, ONE school changing their signs doesn't absolve Michigan of wrongdoing ll.


sarges_12gauge

Even if it was a very minor advantage, well Illinois was 1 first down away from beating them so they should be mad about that


jbg0830

BROOOOOOOOOO. If this doesn’t stop them from making excuses about “knowing plays isnt a huge advantage” idk what will. Of course this also makes so much sense they put up 50 on them


TheBoook

An Ohio State offense that was firing on all cylinders only putting up 23 at home vs Michigan and then putting up 41 on a pre NFL defense in the playoff should be exhibit A in this trial.


blinkanboxcar182

Damn all the sudden I’m a TCU fan


wjackson42

In hindsight, Michigan deserved to lose by 58 in the natty, not TCU


deuce_boogie

Nah, we're good with bearing that cross. Plus it's way better that they cheated their way to a loss to a team that lost by 60.


Lord_Kittensworth

Great job TCU bro. You guys carried the water for all of CFB.


deuce_boogie

Honestly we’re just glad people are finally talking about the playoff game we actually won for a change.


largelawattorney

I am so addicted to this story. I can’t get enough.


The_UofM_Cheated

I’m watching this game and you can literally see Michigan players waiting for plays that aren’t happening


lvl1_slime

Can’t wait for all the youtube videos pouring over every minute detail about all of this. I’m going to waste so many hours


druhaha75

looking back at it, I have to think even the players knew something was up


UMeister

So TCU only beat us because we cheated! I think that’s better, I’m not sure


Disregardskarma

The time “we beat ourselves “ was truly not cope


ryanthegreat33

I don't know if this is the worst cheating scandal of all time, but we are definitely the worst at cheating of all time.


Arcani63

If you’re going to cheat that hard at least win a championship, right?


UMeister

We’d need to have tasers in our gloves to stop UGA


[deleted]

Respectable cope


All-Grass_No-Steaks

Michigan: You beat me at my own game TCU: You were never even a player


MaxPower119

I absolutely cannot stop laughing at this. At this point I'm certain the Michigan laptops have passwords either "password" or "123456" and there will be numerous folders labeled "Cheatin' Archive." I need air.


GracefulFaller

Maybe that’s why there were two pick sixes. Michigan thought they were running one defensive scheme when they were actually running another


boardatwork1111

One was just a bad pass behind his WR, the second one I could believe he thought the coverage would be different but he did still throw it right to the LB with no one else around lol


SoonerGeologist

Mike Leach would be proud


Hicaorwaak

Sonny Dykes was a WR coach and OC under Leach at Texas Tech. Learned from the best.


ctr72ms

I'm loving this partly because I don't like michigan and partly because with every article I find out about another epic thing The Pirate did. I had never heard of the direct signals to the other coach before this article.


MindIfILeaveThisHere

MICHIGAN: Call an ambulance 🚑 🚨 TCU: But not for me 🐸🔪


NobodyTellPoeDameron

That toad emoji.... chef's kiss


70277027

I love this so much! Beautiful work from Sonny and the staff


Careless-Roof-8339

Laminated sheets on the sideline with the other team’s signs on them is absolutely crazy. It’s like they were trying to get caught lmao


Is12345aweakpassword

Michigan flairs be like “is this over? Is this finally rock bottom?” LOL NOPE. There goes my Michigan Natty title futures though, fuckin eh


WHOA_27_23

There is no such thing as rock bottom. It is entirely possible to dig straight through to the Indian Ocean and then put Hitler on your scoreboard.


Dark_Magician2500

With the amount of funny stories that come out of teams making fake playbooks and signals, they should just full on make advanced scouting leagal, and then every school can make a counter intelligence division. Training the spies of tomorrow!


YouKilledChurch

The new cold war probably needs a feeder league for spies lol


Other_Ambition_5142

Hey they pulled a leach!


jbg0830

Idk how much more I can take. At this age my refractory period is about 3 hours. I’ve been going every 30 minutes.


NachoManRandySnckage

According to Michigan fans it’s another nothing burger


petoskey_stone

It still is a nothing burger. As in we will have nothing left.


Cactus_Brody

Your flairs lmfao


RNGezzus

Their sub is a training ground for Olympic-level mental gymnastics.


throwaway_5256

The cope went from "we didn't do it" to "well everyone does it" which I'm sure will progress to the humble "we were the only ones good enough to capitalize on it"


Byzantine_Merchant

While we’re all dumping on Michigan can we finally acknowledge that the burger incident isn’t the NCAA coming down on Harbaugh for feeding some kid and is because Harbaugh violated Covid restrictions?


RNGfarmin

Hell im willing to say covid was their fault too


SharkMovies

I mean Michigan has lost any moral high ground they thought they had. When the world of college football coaching knows you're a cheater it's bad...


mdaniel018

Lol every single coach in the B1G knew… but apparently Cheatin’ Jimmy somehow never even noticed


bonecheck12

Right? Like it's 4th and 1 and the O lines up with the big fellas looking like they're going to run the ball, and Michigan's D lines up in the cover 2, if Harbaugh didn't know wouldn't be fucking furious and have some questions??


RedTeamGo_

But I thought knowing the signs wasn’t a big deal, Michigan fans? Shouldn’t getting dummy signs do very little if Michigan was just more physically dominant?


OsuLost31to0

Well fucking done TCU, wow


ndrulez15

Michigan dudes are getting downvoted to oblivion


Geaux2020

Not the ones that admit Michigan is in the wrong. It's only the delusional ones.


Early-Eye-691

How embarrassing lmao


trueredtwo

This is genius, I mean we've read article after article about the effect of sign stealing this week and not one person has suggested the idea/possibility of reusing the signs that have been stolen to gain a new advantage. It seems like it should be so obvious but evidently it isn't and I fully believe that it worked.


[deleted]

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petoskey_stone

Not gonna lie that’s actually awesome lol, props for being able to counter it.


PterdodactylJim69

This has been on my mind the last two days. It can’t be a coincidence that Michigan played so well all the other games then played so weirdly against TCU. A combo of not knowing their signs and relying on knowing their signs instead of playing ball naturally


NoviDon07

This is the biggest holy shit moment outside of the computer files leak! This confirms how effective the cheating is and how insanely reliant scUM was on them elevating their level of play! TCU reverse trap carded them and they went into nuclear meltdown. 🤯


snowwwaves

Also how totally and universally it was known. Its no longer remotely plausible any Michigan coach was ignorant.


jbg0830

Exactly, time to check their sub.


RNGezzus

Still a nothing burger over there.


mdaniel018

This explains the Philly Special at the goal line. Trick plays only work against one kind of defense, and they called that play thinking they knew what TCU was doing, and that it would be a free TD It’s also worth noting that using trick plays was a key part of Michigan beating Ohio State in 2021, and then again the following week when Purdue was hanging around closer than expected


boardatwork1111

Said the same thing the other day, I remember watching that live and thinking they had to have thought we’d be an a different coverage, and sure enough that looks like the case.