Central Michigan has received its sanctions for having Connor Stalions on its sideline for its season opener against Michigan State in 2023.
Like Michigan, CMU won’t serve a postseason ban or have to vacate any wins for arranging for Stalions to scout on its behalf. However, the program has been placed on probation for two years while it also received a fine of $30,000 plus 1% of the football program’s budget.
Former Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain received a two-year show-cause order, restricting him from all college football coaching duties during the first year of the show-cause period. If McElwain returns to college football during the second year of the show-cause, he’d be required to serve a suspension for 20% of the team’s regular-season contests.
Former Central Michigan quarterbacks coach Jake Kostner, who formulated the plan for Stalions to be on CMU’s sideline to identify and decipher play-calling signals, received a four-year show-cause order. Former CMU director of recruiting Mike McGee and former CMU coordinator of athletic equipment operations Nate Mason each received two-year show-cause penalties for providing gear and a bench pass to Stalions to disguise him as a member of the Chippewas’ staff and provide him sideline access.
Per the NCAA’s case summary, Kostner, Mason and McGee all failed to cooperate with the NCAA’s enforcement staff by “providing false or misleading information during interviews. Kostner and McGee did, however, eventually cooperate with the investigation and provide critical information to the enforcement staff.”
Central Michigan “exceeded its responsibility to cooperate” during the investigation, per the negotiated resolution.
McElwain retired as Central Michigan’s head coach last November amid the NCAA’s investigation into the program. Kostner, Mason and McGee also no longer work for CMU.
