Fox analyst Joel Klatt fires back at angry Big Ten coaches: 'Rushing into decisions to appease a mob is not leadership'
The Michigan Wolverines are part of an investigation into an alleged illegal scouting operation with plenty of daggers coming from plenty of places, namely inside its own conference. Reports from ESPN and The Athletic have said several coaches within the league are pushing for the Big Ten to punish Michigan immediately.
The noise continues to get louder nationally with people believing Michigan should be disciplined. But one analyst, Joel Klatt of Fox Sports, believes that the investigation should be allowed to play out without caving to a mob mentality.
“Lots of sources and articles [are out] about how “mad” opposing coaches are about Michigan,” Klatt posted on X on Thursday afternoon. “The level of anger has a direct relationship with the success Michigan has had over the last two-plus seasons. Also, the level of anger is not grounds for an unprecedented overreach from [conference commissioner Tony Petitti].
“The investigation should run its course and a notice of allegations sent to the program. Why would we have a different process for these allegations than we would for a tampering case? Very 2023 of ‘us’ to ‘demand’ some sort of ‘action’ based on being REALLY UPSET…this should, and will, run its course.
“Somebody should ask all those opposing coaches why they haven’t been on board with helmet audio? Rushing into decisions to appease a mob is not leadership and has backfired in the recent past if you haven’t forgotten.”
The ESPN story, reported late Wednesday night by Pete Thamel, stated that coaches spent nearly an hour airing grievances to Petitti on a regularly-scheduled weekly coaches call. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was present for pertinent business before exiting the call and letting the other coaches speak freely without him present.
“The coaches in the Big Ten laid out to Petitti, who was hired in April, just how distinct of a schematic advantage Michigan has held the last three years by illegally obtaining the opposition’s signals ahead of time, as has been alleged,” Thamel wrote.
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“Coaches used words like ‘tainted,’ ‘fraudulent’ and ‘unprecedented’ on the call to describe Michigan’s signal-stealing scheme, as has been alleged. Much of the call, according to sources, was coaches explaining to Petitti both how it worked and how it impacted them and their programs. Both in-person opponent scouting and using electronic equipment to steal signals are not allowed by NCAA rules.”
The investigation into Michigan’s sign-stealing operation was opened two weeks ago on Oct. 19. U-M analyst Connor Stalions, who has been suspended with pay since Oct. 20, was named as the person of interest in the case due in large part to evidence that he purchased tickets to games of 12 of 13 Big Ten opponents over the last three seasons and other potential postseason opponents. The tickets were purchased in his own name and then transferred to others.
This week, Central Michigan University also opened up an investigation on a man resembling Stalions appearing on the sideline with a victors pass and team-issued gear for the Sept. 1 opener at Michigan State. No updates have been given on the state of their investigation.
Michigan returns to game action on Saturday night against the Purdue Boilermakers at 7:30 p.m. on NBC.
