As Michigan’s punishment looms for its sign-stealing scheme, Jack Sawyer made his first public comments on the scandal in an appearance on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast.
Sawyer’s remarks came after Heyward and his co-host, Hayden Walsh, bantered back and forth about what kind of penalties the Wolverines will receive following the NCAA’s investigation and proceedings.
“Let me ask you this,” Walsh said. “How much did the sign stealing did you think really play into—”
“I’ll say this,” Sawyer interrupted. “I think they beat us straight up last year, obviously, and the year before. But my sophomore year, we left the field and we were like, ‘This feels weird.’ We lost by double digits, and it felt like we had beat the shit out of them all game. You know, we ran a screen pass that we had never put in — not the formation, not the look, anything. And, like, you see them on the sideline, they’re doing (the signals), and we change it, we audible to it or whatever, and when we run it, all the D-linemen as soon as the ball is snapped, the linebackers, everybody, they sniffed it out. We ran a tight end screen from the 25-yard line going in, and they snuff it out on 1st-and-10.”
“It’s just knowing personnel,” the host joked.
“It’s just good scouting,” Sawyer laughed. “Come on.”
The play Sawyer called into question is the same play Cade Stover recalled in an interview with Landry Locker during his rookie season with the Houston Texans.
“We tried to throw a tight end screen in a formation we’ve never used before — like ever — and as soon as I lined up out wide, we had one play from it, I was going to motion back in, they were going to throw a screen to me. And when they start yelling ‘Screen!’ when you’re throwing a tight end screen, that’s when you know, like, ‘What the fuck is this? We haven’t ran this before,” Stover said.
Soon after Stover’s comments, Connor Stalions fired back at the former Ohio State tight end in an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Bussin with the Boys.
“Here’s the thing: Ohio State had like eight signalers all year, something like that. Everyone signals the formation. Mistake No. 1. Mistake No. 2, they never changed who their live signaler was the entire season,” Stalions said.
He later added: “Slot Y-Y, they motioned into Slot Y-Y. They signaled their signal for Slot Y-Y formation, and then the guy who was live the entire season signaled Y then delay. Am I supposed to see that and be like, ‘Oh, I don’t know what this is.’ I said, ‘This has got to be a Y-delay screen.’”
According to multiple reports, Michigan anticipates a final ruling from the NCAA before the 2025 season, with rumors circulating over the weekend that the ruling could be announced as early as this week. Potential penalties could include suspensions, recruiting limitations, fines, a postseason ban and/or vacated wins.
The NCAA has charged Michigan with 11 total violations, including six Level I allegations stemming from both the sign-stealing scheme and a separate investigation into recruiting. Sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel earlier this year that Michigan has proposed a two-game suspension for current head coach Sherrone Moore in 2025 for deleting text messages relevant to the case.
