According to an ESPN report from Dan Wetzel, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti submitted a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions to recommend that Michigan receives no additional penalties related to the sign-stealing scandal that was uncovered during the 2023 season.
Petitti didn’t attend the hearing the committee had in June because he was recovering from hip replacement surgery, but in his letter, he argued that the conference’s three-game suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh that season was enough punishment for stealing signs.
Michigan was charged by the NCAA with 11 total violations, not all of which were related to the sign stealing scandal, including six Level I violations both from sign stealing and a separate recruiting investigation.
A final ruling on the matter should come before the 2025 season starts, and it is unclear whether Petitti’s recommendation will carry any weight with the committee.
Penalties faced by Michigan could range from vacating wins, a postseason ban, suspension of coaches, fines and recruiting limitations, among other possibilities.
Michigan has proposed that head coach Sherrone Moore be suspended for the third and fourth games of the 2025 season, when the Woverines play Central Michigan and Nebraska.
