NCAA punishes Michigan football, hands Sherrone Moore another ban

The final verdict is in, as the NCAA has revealed its complete punishment for the Michigan football program as it closes the book on the sign-stealing case.

The NCAA has imposed a significant fine on Michigan, mostly from the loss of postseason football revenue over the next two years, as part of its sanctions following its probe into the alleged sign-stealing scheme involving former Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions.

Jim Harbaugh, who served as Michigan’s head coach at the time, will receive a show-cause penalty for 10 years. Stalions has an eight-year show-cause.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore will also be penalized, including a two-year show-cause order, during which he is suspended for three games, including the two-game ban the school implemented in addition to the first game of the 2026 season.

Here is the full list of penalties for the Michigan football program imposed by the NCAA.

How the NCAA will punish Michigan football

— Four years of probation.

— Financial penalties: $50,000 fine, plus 10 percent of the budget for the football team, a fine equivalent to the expected loss of all postseason competition revenue for the 2025 and 2026 football seasons, a fine equivalent to 10 percent of scholarships awarded to football players in the 2025-26 academic year.

— 25 percent reduction in football official visits during the 2025-26 season.

— 14-week prohibition on recruiting communications in the football program during the probation period.

— Connor Stalions receives an eight-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletic activities during the show-cause period.

— Jim Harbaugh receives a 10-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletic activities during the show-cause period, beginning on Aug. 7, 2028, at the end of his four-year show-cause order from a previous case.

— Denard Robinson, former Michigan quarterback and associate director of player personnel during the sign-stealing period, receives a three-year show-cause order, restricting him from athletic activities during the show-cause period.

— Sherrone Moore receives a two-year show-cause order, during which he’ll be suspended for a total of three games, including the two games Michigan self-imposed for the 2025 football season against Central Michigan and Nebraska.

— The NCAA panel determined another one-game suspension was adequate for Moore, which he will serve for the first game of the 2026 football season.

— Moore will not be prohibited from engaging in coaching or other athletic activities during the show-cause period.

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What the NCAA didn't do

Notably absent from the NCAA’s punishments for Michigan was any attempt to rescind recent accomplishments on the football field, including its national championship in 2023.

Michigan also escaped a postseason ban, which some insiders speculated the NCAA would consider, although a consensus emerged late in the process that the body would not go that far.

The postseason ban seemed the most unlikely, given the NCAA’s reluctance in recent years to pursue a policy that severe, and after Michigan’s athletic director suggested that he didn’t believe a ban was likely after his own conversations with NCAA insiders.

And NCAA chief Charlie Baker himself said that he thought Michigan’s national title was legit, likely putting to bed any concerns that the school’s championship would be rescinded.

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Michigan's sign-stealing saga

The scandal first came to light in October 2023, the season Michigan won the national championship, and the Big Ten suspended then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the year.

Sign stealing is not itself a violation of NCAA rules, but bylaw 11.6.1 prohibits “off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents” in the same season.

Stalions is alleged to have purchased tickets for several Big Ten games and paid third parties to attend and film opponents’ sidelines to pick up their football signals.

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