Tony Petitti addresses Big Ten's involvement in NCAA investigation into Michigan over sign-stealing

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti addressed the conference’s involvement in the current NCAA investigation into Michigan over the sign-stealing scandal that the program dealt with during the 2023 season during Big Ten Media Days.

As he explained, he’s not aware of the timeline or when the NCAA may render a judgement on Michigan. However, he did make it clear that the conference made sure its own investigation into the Wolverines was a collaborative effort.

“I’ll take the second part first. I don’t know a timetable,” Tony Petitti said. “I’m not aware yet about when the NCAA will come to any final determination, whatever that might be.”

The scandal around Michigan related to sign stealing by the Wolverines and the use of in-person advanced scouting. It’s an issue that triggered an ongoing investigation by the NCAA into Michigan. However, these types of investigations do take time and are separate from the punishment handed out by the Big Ten.

That punishment ultimately fell on the shoulders of then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended for the team’s final three games of the regular season, including tough games against Penn State and Ohio State.

“I can tell you it was a collaborative process inside the conference office with staff first trying to understand, gather information,” Petitti said. “There was a lot of cooperation with the NCAA in terms of information that we had access to. Working with our administrators and ultimately our presidents and chancellors as well. So, it was a completely collaborative process.”

At the time, there were people concerned that Petitti and the Big Ten didn’t punish Michigan harshly enough. However, one of the goals of the investigation and discipline from the conference was to do things as fairly as possible given the circumstances.

“Look, I understand coming from MLB and watching some of the discipline things that have happened there. It’s a difficult process when you’re forced into a situation where you have to decide what to do with a member. That’s part of it,” Petitti said. “You go into it with a lot of respect and trying to do what’s fair to protect the entire conference, and that was the approach we took. I stand by the results of the decision we made.”

Ultimately, it was a special season for Michigan. The Wolverines went unbeaten and won the national championship. Shortly then following the season, Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL.