Bruce Feldman: Expect ‘a lot more collateral damage’ from Michigan sign-stealing investigation

On Friday, Michigan fired linebackers coach Chris Partridge after already having let go staffer Connor Stalions, who purchased tickets to future Wolverine opponent’s games to film their sidelines.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh is suspended from coaching on game day throughout the rest of the regular season — and college football insider Bruce Feldman believes this is only the tip of the iceberg for the Wolverines heading into the offseason.

“It’s getting messy already,” Feldman said Saturday morning on Big Noon Kickoff. “In the last 24 hours, linebackers coach Chris Partridge has been fired. I’m told he was fired for his role in interfering in the investigation. The sources say that we should expect a lot more collateral damage to come from this.

“The NCAA is just intensifying the investigation, even though Jim Harbaugh’s punishment now with the Big Ten has been handled. Don’t be surprised if there is more fallout coming from the personnel side at Michigan.”

In an attempt to regain some sort of normalcy for Michigan during the home stretch of their third consecutive College Football Playoff run, a hearing was set to take place on Friday before the Maryland game in an attempt to file a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten Conference, which would have allowed him to coach.

The hearing ultimately did not happen, and Michigan has been making shifts on its coaching staff accordingly, including offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore taking over as acting head coach and Rick Minter sliding into the linebackers coach spot in the wake of Partridge’s departure.

“I’m told things really changed late Wednesday night after Michigan brass learned that the Big Ten had really damning evidence against Michigan,” Feldman continued. “That’s when the Wolverines backed down and agreed to this suspension. Now, yesterday morning, Yahoo Sports reported that a prominent Michigan booster, who is known to the NCAA as Uncle T, had allegedly helped fund Connor Stalion’s signal-stealing scheme.

“I am told though that he has since denied it and we’ll see where this goes moving forward, but, obviously, a big 180 for the Wolverine since a few days ago.”

For now, the Wolverines must focus on Saturday afternoon’s task of taking down the Terrapins. The opening kickoff is scheduled for Noon ET live on Fox, and the Wolverines are 19.5-point favorites over Maryland on the road, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The over/under line is set at 50.5 total points.