Sorry Michigan, You Can't Spin The Connor Stalions Narrative. But We Will All Remember The Wolverines Own Jason Bourne

Michigan continues to be its own worst enemy when it comes to the ongoing investigation into sign-stealing allegations. This time it comes from the public relations side, where Connor Stalions was fired by the school, but the university wants you to believe otherwise.

The ongoing drama inside the Big Ten has now reached a boiling point with conference athletic directors and coaches. On one side, Michigan is trying to save face by saying Connor Stalions resigned on Friday afternoon. They put out a statement saying as much while adding that they couldn't comment further.

The statement came hours after multiple reports said, and OutKick confirmed, that he was given his walking papers.

Previously suspended with pay, Stalions has not been the best witness when it comes to the school's investigation into the matter. Not wanting to take down the football program or see them hit with a penalty, Stalions taking the fall is how they want you to view this.

In an Oscar winning performance, Stalions released a statement to The Athletic late Friday night, continuing the act, while hoping to fall on the sword to protect his Wolverines.

I can only imagine the laughing that's currently taking place in the Big Ten office reading this statement, while the NCAA continues to dig for information.

Big Ten Assistant Coach Reacts To Michigan News

OutKick spoke with one anonymous Big Ten assistant coach late Friday night about the ongoing events.

"They (Michigan) have certainly decided to stick with the story and that guy (Stalions) is doing everything possible to help Jim (Harbaugh) out. The whole thing is something you'd see out of those Oceans eleven movies. I've been around this business for a long time and I've never seen some analyst become one of the main contributors for a football team. It's like this dude just fell out of the sky.

"I don't know how they'll get out of all of this, but they're damn sure trying everything. You know he just didn't wakeup this morning and decide today was the day he'd quit. They (Michigan) had to make the first move and he was the first chess piece off the board. This sh-t certainly ain't checkers."

To be clear, there is still a lot of investigating left to do in this case, with the Big Ten conference waiting by the phone for the results. Unfortunately for all parties, this could take a while. The questions is whether or not Jim Harbaugh was aware of what Connor Stalions was doing, with his sign-stealing operation.

Obviously, without a paper trail that connects Harbaugh, it will be hard for the NCAA to prove the head coach was funding, or knew of the alleged elaborate scheme. But this hasn't stopped opposing Big Ten coaches and AD's from giving Tony Petitti their recommendations of what a penalty should look like.

Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh looks toward the scoreboard during a college football game between the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines on October 21, 2023 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, MI. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Believing Michigan When It Comes To Stalions

As for whether or not you believe Michigan when it say Connor Stalions resigned, that's up to you. But, avoiding the situation so that you don't get caught in a lie, or takedown the head coach with a slip of the tongue, was the right way to go for Stalions.

The easier way out for the Wolverines was to put out a statement saying Stalions resigned. After two weeks of stories detailing the lengths this analyst went to allegedly steal signals from opposing schools, enough was enough.

Michigan knew this would end with Stalions no longer on the Wolverines sidelines, or an opposing team's sideline, if you believe the Central Michigan photo. This was always going to end with Stalions out of his dream job, and Michigan working damage control.

As we've seen in the past, most recently at Tennessee with Brian Niedermeyer trying to take the fall for Jeremy Pruitt, it rarely works out. This is Connor Stalions trying to take a stand for Jim Harbaugh, while Michigan is putting together a word salad.

We will wait to see what comes next for the Wolverines, and how Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti handles the situation. Being on Michigan's campus today, Petitti met with school officials, looking for his own answers to this college football distraction.

One thing is clear, Connor Stalions fell on the sword for Michigan, but even the school knows that's not going to be enough in this situation.

Two weeks ago, we had no idea who Connor Stalions was. Now, two weeks later, I'd imagine most who follow college football know his last name.

Well done to Michigan's version of Jason Bourne, we sure know your name now.