As the college football world awaited the NCAA’s punishments against Michigan Friday, Colston Loveland was getting ready for a joint practice between the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills. Afterward, the former Wolverines tight end shared his reaction to the news, including the fact the Wolverines “still got the ring.” Loveland was a key part of […]
As the college football world awaited the NCAA’s punishments against Michigan Friday, Colston Loveland was getting ready for a joint practice between the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills. Afterward, the former Wolverines tight end shared his reaction to the news, including the fact the Wolverines “still got the ring.”
Loveland was a key part of Michigan’s 2023 national championship team and was on the roster when news broke of the sign-stealing scandal. The NCAA’s investigation centered on former analyst Connor Stalions, who resined from his position that year after the reports came out. Stalions received an eight-year show cause from the NCAA on Friday and former head coach Jim Harbaugh got a 10-year order.
While Loveland didn’t know about the specific details of Friday’s announcement as he got ready for Friday’s practice, he heard Michigan still kept its title. He added it sounds like the program will be alright.
“I heard a couple people talking about it,” Loveland said during a press conference Friday. “I haven’t really seen or don’t even know what’s going on with it. I’m just kind of focused on what we’ve got going and obviously, we had a scrimmage today, so that was the main focus. But sounds like we’ll be alright. Sounds like we still got the ring.”
Loveland was a focal point of that 2023 national title team as a sophomore, totaling 649 yards and four touchdowns as he proved to be a mismatch for opposing defenses. He then had 582 yards and five touchdowns in 2024 before the Bears selected him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
More on the NCAA’s punishments against Michigan
The NCAA placed Michigan on four years of probation and added an additional game suspension for coach Sherrone Moore in 2026. He is already serving a self-imposed two-game suspension this year. In addition to Stalions and Harbaugh’s show-causes, Denard Robinson also received a three-year show-cause order.
UM will also pay a fine of $50,000 plus 10% of the football program’s budget, a fine “equal to the anticipated loss of postseason competition revenue-sharing from 2025 and 2026,” and the equivalent to 10% of scholarships awarded for 2025-26. In addition, the Wolverines will see a 25% reduction in football official visits for 2025-26 and have a 14-week prohibition on football recruiting communications.
After the NCAA announced the punishments against Michigan, school officials responded. The university plans to appeal the ruling, it said in a statement.
“We appreciate the work of the Committee on Infractions,” UM’s statement read. “But, respectfully, in a number of instances the decision makes fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence — or lack of evidence — in the record. We will appeal this decision to ensure a fair result, and we will consider all other options.”
Category: Football
