Michigan’s punishments related to the sign-stealing scandal have been revealed, and they include a fine of more than $20 million, Jim Harbaugh receiving a 10-year show-cause penaly, and Stalions getting an eight-year show cause.
The program will receive no postseason ban going forward and it will not have any of its wins vacated.
Head coach Sherrone Moore will receive one extra game suspension added on to the two-game suspension he is already set to serve during the 2025 season. The added suspension will be served during Week 1 of the 2026 season. Moore also received a two-year show-cause penalty.
Harbaugh’s new 10-year show-cause will begin once his current four-year show-cause is up in 2028.
Michigan faces four years probation, a $50,000 fine plus 10 percent of the budget for the football program, a fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing associated with the 2025 and 2026 football season, a fine equivalent to the cost of 10 percent of the scholarships awarded in Michigan’s football program for the 2025-26 academic year, a 25 percent reduction in football official visits during the 2025-26 season, and a 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications in the football program during the probation period.
Former staffer and Wolverine quarterback Denard Robinson was hit with a three-year show-cause penalty. Former assistant Chris Partridge did not receive any penalty.
A show-cause requires that a school justifies the hirign of a coach who has previously committed NCAA violations, which can prevent a person from coaching in college for the duration of the penalty.
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports posted on Twitter that that Michigan would have received a postseason ban or scholarship reductions in a previous era of college athletics, but the NCAA decided not do move forward with that approach.
The NCAA said there was “overwhelming evidence” of an “impermissible scouting scheme” in the Michigan football program, and also was clear that Stalions, Harbaugh, Moore and Robinson failed to cooperate with investigations consistently. That includes the destruction of materials relevant to the investigation, providing false and misleading information during interviews with the NCAA, Stalions disposing of his cell phone as well as violating confidentiality requirements. It also refers to Moore’s deletion of 52 text messages between himself and Stalions and Harbaugh refusing to provide records or participate in an interview with the enforcement staff.
The investigation panel noted that “the true scope and scale of the scheme — including the competitive advantage it conferred—will never be known due to individuals’ intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information.”
