Aidan Hutchinson Confidently Says Michigan Sign-Stealing Scandal Not Serious, Which Might Be Premature
If the NCAA levels severe punishment on the University of Michigan for its alleged sign-stealing scandal, Aidan Hutchinson will be the butt of a lot of jokes.
The Detroit Lions defensive end and former Wolverine star said that he basically views the NCAA’s investigation as a witch hunt. Dismissing the scandal as something everyone else does, Hutchinson was extremely confident the whole story would amount to nothing.
“They’re doing all their investigations, and they’re coming at Michigan when Michigan’s got a shot to win the national championship this year,” Hutchinson said with a rather cocky tone. “So I don’t know.”
He further made the prediction that once - not if, once - the Wolverines win the conference, people won’t remember the scandal.
“It is what it is,” Hutchinson said. “I guess time will pass and people will forget about it and move on once we’re the champs again.”
Aidan Hutchinson Should Pump The Breaks On His Confidence In Michigan
In case Hutchinson forgot, these aren’t middling, meaningless accusations brought against the school. Damning reports have emerged from the NCAA's investigations, and a number of schools have said they knew about Michigan's antics for quite some time.
New findings show that the man allegedly at the center of this web - Connor Stallions - took extensive measures to gain an advantage on opponents, all while breaking NCAA regulations in the process.
These allegations cast serious doubt on whether the success Michigan has enjoyed over the past two seasons was legitimate. That includes two Big 10 titles, resounding victories over rival Ohio State, and consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff (Hutchinson helped with one of each of these accomplishments in 2021). It was a remarkable turnaround for a program that had struggled to become one of the nation’s elite teams, but now we have to question whether they got there fairly.
The NCAA could slap severe punishment on Michigan, including vacating all the wins from those two seasons.
Furthermore, despite Hutchinson’s confidence in his alma mater, winning the Big 10 isn’t a lock this year. In the upcoming weeks, Michigan faces a tricky road test against Penn State, and the annual matchup with Ohio State always comes down to who wants it more. That could be the Buckeyes this year.
So Hutchinson should wait a bit before he starts confidently saying this investigation is much ado about nothing. If he’s wrong about either the seriousness of the scandal, or Michigan winning the conference - or both - he’s never going to hear the end of it.