I mentioned earlier this year that there was more to the Michigan/NCAA story than had been reported. I couldn't get into details at the time because I was aware of at least one related active investigation. Given recent developments, I’ll go ahead and share what I heard (all of which came from people connected to Michigan). It is not directly tied to this week’s news, although there are some similarities with the way the Sherrone Moore situation has been handled.
In the fall of 2023 I was told that Michigan had retained a digital forensics firm and at least one law firm to help retrieve and analyze the contents of Matt Weiss's university-issued devices. I was told a massive amount of stolen personal material was found on the devices. That material included sexual content and the victims spanned state lines, so there was a clear duty to report it to the FBI. The university did just that and to my knowledge has been cooperative with the criminal prosecution.
I was also told that other, sports-related material was found on the devices that raised “competitive integrity concerns”. A law firm that has handled some sensitive internal investigations for the NFL was brought in to investigate and advise on this part of the process.
Around this same time, the NCAA announced they were opening the advance scouting investigation of Michigan. It wasn’t clear exactly what was known and by whom within Michigan’s administration. Michigan portrayed the violations as a rogue operation by a lone wolf, without the knowledge of the coaching staff or the administration. Following the NCAA’s announcement of their investigation the university clamped down on leaks. Employees stopped talking and little new information made its way out.
Then in March of this year the same person who had accurately described the internal investigation of Weiss (in 2023) provided additional information. I was told the law firm that investigated the "competitive integrity" issues in 2023 was instructed by then-president Santa Ono to report the results of the firm’s investigation in oral form only to eliminate a paper trail. The firm presented their results to Ono, the Office of the President (which was essentially Ono’s direct reports) and some members of the athletic department. I was told that, at Ono’s direction, no recording devices, cellphones or note-taking were allowed in the presentation. Ono had been briefed on the results ahead of time.
As the contents of Weiss’s devices were revealed, I was told evidence of the advance scouting scheme was presented. The evidence allegedly revealed the involvement/knowledge of football staff members beyond Stalions. (This fit with the NCAA's suspicion stated later in their Public Infractions Decision: "Aspects of the record suggest that there may have been broader acceptance of the scheme throughout the program. The true scope and scale of the scheme… will never be known due to individuals’ intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information.”) In addition to advance scouting evidence, I was told evidence of other possible NCAA violations was found during the internal investigation. Michigan’s administration did not report any of this to the NCAA and I was told the university’s Board of Regents was not informed.
If true, these are serious claims: senior members of Michigan's administration, including the president, were allegedly aware of NCAA violations and covered them up. At this point I want to be clear: I do not have conclusive proof of these allegations. However, the source had demonstrated a high level of credibility through their accurate description in 2023 of the criminal evidence found on Weiss’s devices. No one had publicly reported these details until the DOJ indicted Weiss earlier this year. The indictment’s description of the evidence against Weiss matched what the source had provided 18 months earlier. Further, the investigating law firm named by the source in 2023 was later confirmed to have had a significant billable relationship with Michigan during the exact timeframe specified by the source. The source clearly had inside knowledge of Michigan’s internal investigation. Still, that isn’t conclusive proof.
While I don't know if the allegations of a cover-up are true, here is what I do know: Michigan's Board of Regents was informed of the allegations six months ago, shortly after Ono’s resignation. The BoR had their own suspicions about Ono regarding issues outside of athletics. I was also told the BoR was upset that Ono had withheld information and downplayed to them the severity of the criminal accusations against Weiss; it was plausible that he could have done the same thing with the discovered NCAA violations. This led the BoR to investigate the allegations through another outside law firm (this one familiar to many at Michigan due to their legal work on previous university scandals). That investigation began during the early summer; I don’t know if it has ended and I don't know the results.
I do know the NCAA is aware of the allegations and has known for some time. However, given their limited powers of investigation, there is a little they can do. Much evidence has been destroyed, as noted above. Further, Michigan's use of outside law firms has kept critical evidence hidden behind attorney-client privilege.
I did not publicly discuss the details of what I was told back in March because I wanted the internal investigation by the BoR to proceed without distraction. I also hoped that some of the people at Michigan who were willing to talk off the record would eventually do so on the record. Some may not be aware that there is whistleblower protection for them through both the university and the NCAA. In any case, to my knowledge these people have not gone on the record with the NCAA, internal investigators, or the media (I know at least two national reporters are aware of the allegations). Perhaps they will now given that the athletic department and the university have come under renewed scrutiny.
The ongoing scandals within the athletic department at Michigan suggest a systemic problem. Michigan media have just reported that a “white shoe” law firm will be investigating the entire department. I suspect this is the same firm that the BoR has been using to quietly investigate Ono (and I strongly suspect Warde Manuel has also been a person of interest in that investigation).
The best outcome in this situation would be public disclosure of whatever the BoR learns in their investigation(s). In spite of the destruction of evidence by football staff members, the BoR and their investigators should have access to NCAA-related evidence stored on Weiss’s devices. I was told that the contents of those devices were cloned and preserved in 2023 to prevent tampering or erasure; the FBI/DOJ likely have the original material but I believe a cloned copy exists for the BoR to review. The BoR would also have access to the original investigating law firm’s 2023 findings (which allegedly included evidence found on university servers used by the football staff) and a list of those in the administration who were informed.
As for any additional involvement by the NCAA, it's unlikely they would reopen an investigation to simply charge another assistant or two. However, if the allegations are true and there is evidence of a cover-up led by the president of the university and/or senior members of the administration, that is by definition Lack of Institutional Control. The NCAA would certainly act in that case.
