Rece Davis pushes back on belief Michigan only won national championship with sign-stealing

ESPN’s Rece Davis pushed back on any belief that Michigan only won its national title due to sign stealing last year.

Jim Harbaugh left for the Los Angeles Chargers following the undefeated season, which ultimately put new coach Sherrone Moore in the crosshairs. The NCAA issued a notice of allegations against Connor Stalions, the alleged mastermind, and the program where others are expected to be accused of violations.

However, last year’s team still won the title and it was for good reason.

“The only people who say that this was the only reason they won are either Ohio State fans or people who don’t like Michigan,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast. “They’re the only ones but the only people who say it didn’t matter at all are Michigan fans, wearing maize and blue glasses. Now we will never know to what extent what advantage they got by having the signals and I am a staunch believer in this: If someone steals your signals and you become aware of it which would be almost impossible at this level of football to not realize Michigan’s a step ahead of us, they know our signs. 

“If they’ve got your signals, change your signals. Get better ones, use a new decoy, use a different board, do something you know, don’t just sit there and do it.”

As far as what penalties should be levied against Michigan, that remains to be seen. But as Davis sees it, the national championship in Ann Arbor stands.

The 2023-24 season will be remembered for Michigan’s 15-0 national title season, even if there were allegations of sign stealing.

“I would rather suspect that happened a few times,” Davis said. “ We’ll never know how big of an advantage. It was an advantage and the most important thing is whether you think it shouldn’t be against the rules to scout in person ahead of time or not, it is. And as I said the morning it happened if this is true, and it certainly appears from all of this that it was, they broke the rules. They cheated. You know, to what extent, we’ll never know that. 

“Does that mean they should take the banner down? No. Does it tarnish the championship in my judgment? No. It’s an embarrassing thing. They were the best team. They won the national championship, they earned it. They deserved it.”