REACTION: Connor Stalions Netflix documentary makes one important point l College Football Podcast

all right so the uh Conor stallions documentary sign stealer came out on Netflix two major takeaways number one Conor stallions makes himself look good right up until he very clearly lies to the camera about having been at the central Michigan game did not buy that for one single solitary second I don't know that anybody did takeaway number two Michigan's national championship is not tainted I know there are some big-time college football pundits out there saying that harbon new and all this sort of stuff and it's tainted and it's this that and the other thing I think punishment is plenty warranted it is clear rules were VI violated lines were crossed but I'll get to that more in just a moment the biggest takeaway I had was kind of remembering something that we that we already knew which is once Conor stallions was removed from the equation when he wasn't there and he's of course the guy at the center of all of this yeah Michigan still went out won the football games and look I am glad that college football has allowed the inh helmet communication if you want to call it the stallions rule you may do so but it's it's a logical step to address this particular issue so that it doesn't arise again but here's why I say Michigan National Championship should not be tainted Beyond just the fact that he was not there on the sidelines and he was the one going out and doing The in-person Scouting which is against the rules if if punishments come down because of the inperson scouting that is completely warranted stripping the national championship no no I I am not in favor of that but some sort of punishment yep lines lines were crossed rules were violated there but the most ing aspect of this to me watching it was was understanding and I had a passive knowledge of this but I imagine other people who who might have watched it or if you haven't watched it this might be something that really crystallizes in your head sign stealing is not illegal it has the word steal in it so you think it's illegal and wrong and bad sign stealing is not illegal when a runner is out at second base the catcher historically until you got the pitch commoms which again an adjustment from the Houston as Astros ordeal which I think was far more extensive and Over The Line than what Michigan did here when you always used to flash three numbers or four numbers or whatnot why so the guy at second base could look in and see oh you put down a two and and then he signals to the batter hey that's kerbo stealing signs per the NCAA rules is 100% allowed here's what is also allowed and it was fascinating the documentary is a great watch if you haven't seen it I I highly recommend it because there are a lot of fascinating elements you hear from Connor stallions himself you hear from his family you hear from his friends how everything went down you don't really hear from from Jim Harbaugh hardly at all I have no doubts that Jim Harbaugh knew what was taking place but is it as egregious of a violation as it appears no I do not believe so is it a violation yes is it wildly awful no sign stealing is illegal you are also allowed to watch the game film of opposing teams and you are allowed to attempt to decode their signals you can think that that sounds and feels yucky and gross and not in the spirit of the game and you should it is very clear everybody's doing this and here's a word of caution I will I will put out there to anybody who wants to jump on the moral high horse train about Conor stallions and Michigan and all this sort of stuff be very careful that you don't have to eat your words now many of you out there who would make such remarks are frequently random YouTube commenters or you know spam accounts or whatever on on Twitter or burner accounts is the word I was looking for there so you're not going to be held to that same sort of standard that I might for saying such things but if you go out there and in your mind say oh that's terrible Michigan did this and we would never do that you had longtime reporters and pundits in college football saying to a Netflix camera sign stealing has has been a part of the sport for a long time and guess what it's not going anywhere it's it's not going anywhere everyone's going to be very discreet about it and now you of course have the inh helmet communication that's better that is much much better because it removes an element to allow for such discrepancies to take place but to say that you know Michigan was not going to win the national championship if they didn't have Conor stallions you can't make that argument you you you cannot make that case for a couple of reasons number one he was on the sidelines since uh in the 2021 and 22 Seasons Michigan didn't win at all Michigan didn't win at all they were very good but they did not win at all secondly Joel clatt had a really good breakdown where he talked about what goes on and the complexities involved with calling a play it's incredibly you have to go listen to him I'm not going to try and duplicate what what he said and you know everything that goes into uh understanding the the protections the route com combinations like even if you know a passes company coming if he if he looks across and you know he recognizes his signal because he because he did his homework he being Conor stallions and he says hey it's a pass hey it's a p what kind of pass what what what kind of what kind of pass we talking about here like yes that's an advantage there's no doubt about it but again The in-person Scouting going to stadiums dressing up in a central Michigan outfit we're crossing a line here that is too far repercussions need to be handed down because that's against the rules but sign stealing has been around for a long time and stealing signs in games you may not like how it makes you feel that doesn't make it against the rules that's the facts of the matter and that was one of my biggest takeaways from it was was seeing longtime reporters I forget who specifically was was mentioning it but it was somebody that was not Conor stallions who covers college football was saying yeah sign stealing is completely legal it's allowed and I kind of sat there and I I just kind of sat with that for a minute I actually paused it and I sat with that for a couple seconds like huh yeah that's right you there's nothing there's nothing illegal about looking across and saying saying hey this coach went like that and this means they're running Gap or some you know a run concept or whatever you may not like it I I don't like it if I'm playing my friend or my brother or whoever in EA college football 25 and we're playing on the same screen and he's looking at my he's looking at my screens to see which of the three plays I could be selecting from but guess what you got to make adjustments that's part of the strategy that's part of coaching it may not be your favorite part of it but it is still a part of it whether you like it or not so uh something I'm sure will come down to to Michigan and Conor stallions was at the center of all of this and you know I I think there was an angle that that would they were trying to approach of like man why was Connor the only guy outed it's like well I I I I guess there are other people involved there so I can see why they would present that particular part of it or that point of view but only one guy was dressed in a central Michigan hat like and that was the worst part of the documentary is I thought overall you know Connor presented himself very well and and and just kind of portrayed himself as I'm just someone who loves Michigan and doing I was doing whatever you know I could to help the team and and remember his first job was actually at Navy where he was what working to decode signals like is part of college football that's what you do and then it got out of hand got over the line did Jim Harbaugh know yeah I suspect he did is he ever going to admit that no of course not is Jim Harbaugh coming back to college football anyway no the NCA has done a good job of running him off for a cheeseburger I mean goodness goodness gracious the NCA so I think we'll I think we'll wrap it all right there I'm sure none of you will have any thoughts definitely don't leave those in the YouTube comments below