Speaking at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti called for a faster enforcement process, considering the Michigan Football/Connor Stalions sign-stealing case began nearly 2 years ago:
Big Ten Media Days kicked off in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. Sherrone Moore, Derrick Moore, Ernest Hausmann and Max Bredeson won’t be speaking on behalf of the Michigan Wolverines until Thursday, but Michigan is already being discussed.
Commissioner Tony Petitti was first up at the podium on Tuesday, and he was pretty quickly asked about the letter he wrote to the NCAA urging that no additional penalties be handed down regarding the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal.
Petitti confirmed the letter was written and sent to the NCAA, but he did not divulge what exactly was written. However, he seemingly has Michigan’s back now after being the one to suspend Jim Harbaugh while he and the team were in the middle of their flight to Penn State the day before the biggest game of the 2023 season up to that point.
But on top of all that, Petitti is calling for a change in the enforcement process. Specifically, he is hoping future cases — whether it be with the NCAA or the newly-made College Sports Commission — can be wrapped up much sooner than this one.
“It’s not uncommon in proceedings for (the) conference office to weigh in on (NCAA cases),” Petitti said. “I’m not going to address what the contents of the letter we sent are. And because it’s an ongoing process, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment about whether it’s enough or not while there are individuals deliberating. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do in the process.
“I will say that having gone through this, one thing to point out is when you think about the CSC (College Sports Commission) and the discipline and what we’re trying to build with the new entity — having an enforcement mechanism that is just faster is a priority. One that acts more quickly. This is the system we have now — it’s been in place for a long time. It functions the way it was built. But I do think there’s this consensus among our colleagues that whatever we’re building for the enforcement piece that’s gonna live inside the CSC, that’s gotta be there. It’s difficult to be talking about this almost on two seasons after, so I think everybody agrees that part of the process should change.”
In case you aren’t familiar, the CSC is an independent governing body that was established by the power conferences in anticipation of the House vs. NCAA settlement approval. The CSC will look over college athletics post-House, including future NIL deals for athletes, revenue sharing, roster limits, and much more.
It’s unclear if the CSC will also have enforcement power relating to issues such as the Stalions case, but what Petitti said is clear — cases in college athletics need to be resolved much, much faster than they historically have been.
The letter Petitti wrote was read at the NCAA Committee on Infractions hearing in Indianapolis early in June. The hearing — which went for two days — was the last chance for Michigan to plead its case before a decision is made on any potential punishment(s) stemming from the case.
Given that head coach Sherrone Moore could serve a two-game suspension early in the year, the resolution of this matter is expected to occur prior to the season, which begins for Michigan on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico. However, given the NCAA’s typical snail-like pace when it comes to most things — especially things that could end up making it look bad — it also wouldn’t be too shocking if a decision wasn’t made in time.