Michigan sign-stealing scandal: Full 10-page response letter from Michigan to Big Ten, Tony Petitti

Following a lot of back-and-forth this week between Michigan and the Big Ten office, Yahoo! Sports has obtained a copy of the 10-page letter Michigan brass sent to the league urging caution in any action related to the sign-stealing investigation that has rocked the sport.

Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel posted the letter in its entirety on Twitter.

You can check out the complete letter from Michigan to the Big Ten office below.

2/3 pic.twitter.com/SkHj2eobUh

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) November 9, 2023

The letter outlines several reasons that Michigan feels it would be inappropriate for the league to discipline coach Jim Harbaugh or the program, many of them centered around technicalities related to the league’s policies.

Among the points of contention are that disciplinary action at this stage of the investigation is procedurally improper, unadjudicated rule violations cannot be the basis for a sportsmanship action, the commissioner lacks authority to punish Harbaugh under the sportsmanship policy, disciplinary action is premature, and disciplinary action at this juncture would be disproportionate to the broader regulatory context of the case.

Of note, a report emerged this week that the Big Ten has not yet begun its own investigation in the sign-stealing scandal and is instead relying on information provided by the NCAA.

“Well, the conference commissioner is not at the College Football Playoff meetings in Dallas where all of his commissioner peers are, because he has some other things to attend to,” ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported. “What’s going on right now is Michigan’s letter, the ten-page letter that it sent back urging due process, one source told ESPN that ‘Michigan is not bringing a knife to a gun fight on this.’ There’s also Michigan state legislatures, lawmakers, who have told Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, urged him to follow due process.”

“Now, there are two separate things going on here. One, the NCAA is doing its own investigation. My understanding is that the Big Ten has not initiated its own investigation. It’s relying on information it has gathered from the NCAA, in part, and following other reports that have come out.”

It’s clearly all hands on deck for the Big Ten as they try to find a proper punishment for the Wolverines given the information they have regarding the Wolverines alleged sign-stealing and the program’s response.

But one thing seems clear: The Big Ten isn’t in any real rush to a judgment.

“I was also told that this is about a rule, Michigan broke a rule in a systemic way and whether or not it impacted them positively or negatively on the field is irrelevant. So our discussions about how much the sign-stealing actually helps Michigan, that’s mute,” Dinich explained. “The Big Ten’s point is they’re taking this information, they have the facts, they have Michigan’s response, they’re going through it, and again there’s no rush to judgement right now.”