Michigan police address one theory about sign-stealing investigation

A new report about the Michigan sign-stealing scandal that was published on Wednesday led many to wonder if the investigation is in any way linked to the firing of former assistant coach Matt Weiss, and police have addressed that speculation.

According to Will Hobson of The Washington Post, the NCAA opened its investigation into Michigan after an “outside investigative firm” gathered evidence against Jim Harbaugh’s program. The firm was able to build a case by somehow gaining access to “computer drives maintained and accessed by multiple Michigan coaches.” The firm then shared the evidence with the NCAA on Oct. 17, and the NCAA began its own investigation two days later.

We still do not know who hired and paid for the outside firm. It is also unclear how that firm gained access to the computer drives of Michigan coaches. One popular theory is that Weiss may have had something to do with it. Weiss, a quarterbacks coach at Michigan in 2021 and 2022, was fired in January for alleged computer access crimes. The activity took place at Schembechler Hall, Michigan’s on-campus football facility, between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23.

On Thursday, University of Michigan deputy chief of police Melissa Overton told Andrew Kahn of MLive.com that the Weiss investigation is “not related to the sign-stealing allegation in any way.” Overton also said the Weiss investigation remains “active and ongoing.”

There was also a data hack of University of Michigan computer systems back in August. It is unclear if that was in any way linked to the gathering of sign-stealing evidence.