What they’re saying about NCAA ruling on Michigan scouting case

The NCAA dished punishments for Michigan football in its alleged off-campus scouting case Friday morning, but U-M is going to appeal, it announced. Here’s a look around the media at what they’re saying as the news came fast and furious all day long.

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Andy Staples, On3: Michigan survives the NCAA’s ‘hammer’ with little more than a scratch

Schools aren’t suckers anymore. Had Michigan been banned from the postseason, it would have appealed immediately. When it ultimately lost its appeal, it would have slapped the NCAA with a massive lawsuit that would have threatened to lay bare the entirety of the NCAA’s enforcement process.

The NCAA has tried hard for years to shield this process from the sunshine because if people saw what a kangaroo court the NCAA usually runs, they would feel… about the way they feel now about the NCAA. The case of former USC assistant Todd McNair, which dragged for years beyond the Reggie Bush case decision and prominently featured a photo of McNair with the guy who played Big Worm in Friday, did enough damage.

And that was one aggrieved assistant coach. Imagine if a massive state university turned its legal cannons on the NCAA’s process at a time when NCAA leaders are fighting to remain in charge of college sports in the first place.

So the committee opted to take a few shots from Michigan’s money cannon instead. Unless Michigan wants to stretch this out more — which really isn’t necessary — it’ll raise the funds to recoup the fines. 

The Wolverines should start with a fundraising mixer on Friday night.

That way, everybody can get hammered.

Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports: Michigan penalties show NCAA punishments changing with times: Emptying wallets arrives as primary deterrent

Stripping more than $20 million from an athletic department changes behavior. In the current era with TV money, NIL deals and bloated coaching salaries, financial hits carry more weight than vacated wins or postseason bans. Those old-school punishments were symbolic. This is tangible.

It’s the first time I can remember feeling genuinely encouraged by an NCAA decision. For decades, the governing body seemed stuck in the past, clinging to outdated ideals. Now, maybe, it’s finally pulled its head out of the sand (or elsewhere) and recognized the truth.

College football is a business, and it has been for a long time. Now, the NCAA seems ready to start treating it like one. No more empty gestures — just empty their wallets.

Nicole Auerbach, NBC Sports: The NCAA was never going to drop the hammer on Michigan

The city of Columbus is still standing, even though the hopes of many of its citizens were dashed on Friday. After investigating the University of Michigan football program and Connor Stalions, the mastermind of an elaborate sign-stealing operation, for nearly two years, the NCAA opted for a wrist-slap over handing down any penalties with real teeth.

Yes, there’s a significant financial fine that could cost the Michigan athletic department upwards of $20 million. Money is real, and that’s a lot of it.

But would you spend $20 million to win a college football national championship? Of course you would. Ohio State famously spent about that much on name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for the team that won its own national title this past January. And now we can put a price tag on the one its rival Michigan won the year before.

Despite everything Stalions did from 2021 through half of the 2023 season — from the “counterintelligence” network of individuals he called the “KGB” to the “dirty film” they provided when they sent him sideline footage of opponents’ signs, per NCAA investigators — Michigan will not lose its championship trophy.

The Wolverines will not vacate any wins from that championship season. The current team won’t face a postseason ban, either. The NCAA opted against wielding the biggest weapons in its arsenal against a program that has spent nearly five years in the crosshairs of its enforcement arm. The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions did the three things it has done to rule-breakers in recent years: 1) fine the school; 2) punish the so-called adults in the room; and 3) call it a day.

Bill Bender, Sporting News: Why didn’t NCAA hammer Michigan for sign-stealing scandal? Here are biggest losers from final ruling

Who are the biggest losers in Michigan sign-stealing scandal?
Michigan. The Wolverines were 40-3 on the field in Harbaugh’s last three years with Stalions on staff. To what degree that sign-stealing and in-person scouting contributed to that success will always be a talking point when it comes to that three-year run. There was no way to exonerate Michigan – and that’s not what happened – but now the overriding perception will always be that they got away with it. Stalions and Harbaugh got the most severe punishments.

Still, all this soured what should have been the next-best thing The Game has had since The Ten-Year War.

Chris Hummer, CBS Sports: Michigan punishment: Why NCAA levied no postseason ban, relief for Wolverines among key takeaways from ruling

A bit of relief for Michigan
Do the penalties the NCAA levied hurt Michigan’s bottom line? Of course.

Does it hurt that Moore won’t be on the sideline against Nebraska? Absolutely.

But, in the grand scheme of it all, the Wolverines are making out fine. They won a national championship in 2023. They landed the No. 1 recruit — Bryce Underwood — as part of the 2025 class, giving the program a building block for its future; it’d be a shock if Underwood didn’t start Week 1 for the Wolverines.

The Wolverines have a top 11 recruiting class in 2026. They’re a preseason Top 25 team, and they’re trending the right direction under Moore.

So, the penalties don’t really impact Michigan on the field this season or likely next.

Frankly, getting the punishments out in the open and moving past them is probably going to help the program. Now the uncertainty that came with the investigation is gone.

Texting with several Michigan staffers over the last few hours, a common term that comes up is “relief.” Not necessarily about the penalties but because the cloud that’s hung over the program can now disperse.

Everyone knows what happened (mostly), and almost all the key members of the program from back then.

Underwood and Moore can now lead what is a new era for the program following all the changes that occurred after Harbaugh’s departure. It’s a fresh start.

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic: Michigan’s loss of integrity is biggest hit in Connor Stalions scandal, not NCAA penalty

Michigan keeps its national title, and now nothing can keep it from competing for another one this year. To which Wolverines fans will surely say — worth it. But the reputational hit that school has taken these past two years is no small thing.

“Everyone cheats” has long been a mantra in college athletics, but Michigan, more than most, has long sold integrity as core to its brand. Harbaugh, you’ll recall, was once hailed as the definitive “Michigan Man.”

There’s no official criteria that makes a “Michigan Man,” besides having played or coached at Michigan, but Harbaugh himself tried to define it at his news conference after winning the national championship.

“Doing something that’s bigger than for yourself,” he said. “Caring about somebody other than yourself. Never being outworked, doing right. You don’t lie, you don’t cheat, you don’t steal.”

So much for that.