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Former Michigan Assistant Chris Partridge Sues School
Echoes of the Connor Stalions scandal continue to ripple throughout time, and even the Michigan men themselves involved seem to have trouble letting it go despite most of them largely getting away unpunished. That seems to include Chris Partridge despite the fact that the former Wolverines assistant won last month's Super Bowl as the Seattle Seahawks' linebackers coach to help offset getting fired from Michigan two months before the school won the College Football Playoff.
Former Michigan assistant Chris Partridge, fired in the middle of the sign stealing scandal only to be cleared by the NCAA, has sued the school.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) March 11, 2026
The complaint offers a window into the contentious dealings between Michigan and the Big Ten. For @espn https://t.co/9gYsD7w36r
In the complaint, Partridge asserts Michigan made him a "scapegoat" during the first month after the Stalions scandal went public before being fired on November 17th, 2023. The boldest allegation in his suit revolves around Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, making the claim that the conference's highest official, "presented [Michigan athletic director Warde] Manuel with uncorroborated, second-hand, inflammatory information" that Partridge advised an anonymous student-athlete to "not be forthright with information" when addressing NCAA reps investigating the matter.
Furthermore, the suit alleges Petitti pressured the Wolverines to act on the information by threatening to present it during an injunction hearing on the subject of Jim Harbaugh's suspension while he was still head coach at Michigan. The school and conference each declined comment to ESPN on the matter when the story broke Wednesday.
Partridge has long denied any wrongdoing and received a strong vote of confidence from the NCAA Committee on Infractions last year during review of his three alleged violations. The win has inspired Partridge to continue seeking confirmation of the truth through justice as it applies to his previous employer, as he said this week, "I went all the way through the process with the NCAA and the truth prevailed. And I feel I have to go all the way through the process with Michigan for the truth with Michigan to prevail."
Big Ten Seeks Pause From NCAA in Tampering Inquiries
On Wednesday, the Big Ten Conference requested the NCAA temporarily stop investigating alleged “tampering” cases — situations where coaches or schools contact players from another program before those players officially enter the transfer portal. Conference officials argue that the current rules are outdated and difficult to enforce in today’s environment, where athletes can transfer more freely and earn money through name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals.
NEWS: The Big Ten has sent a letter to the NCAA to insist the NCAA impose a moratorium on investigations and infractions proceedings related to tampering. The letter lays out the need to comprehensively reevaluate rules, which were designed for a world that no longer pic.twitter.com/vAXPefDkA0
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 11, 2026
In the letter, the Big Ten claims that because athletes now make decisions about where to play based heavily on compensation and immediate opportunities, existing tampering rules “cannot be credibly or equitably enforced” and need a full overhaul before schools are punished under them. It also states its belief that the current portal system creates too much “gray area” about what counts as illegal contact with players.
The request has sparked debate across college athletics. Other major conferences, including the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference, oppose pausing enforcement and say tampering rules still must be enforced to maintain order in recruiting and the transfer portal. The NCAA has also signaled that it plans to keep investigating potential violations for now, even while a working group reviews possible reforms to tampering policies.
Fake Emeka Egbuka Duped Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Months
It seems hard enough to trust anything at face value on the Internet these days, and that goes double for social media. Still, you would expect an NFL outfit to do a better job taking stock of ways to communicate and interact with its newest employees than what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers demonstrated with former Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka this week.
On Wednesday, an account with the handle @EgbukaEmeka on X sent out a tweet that concerned football fans asking, "is CTE even real?" The message immediately drew public attention and concern before the official Buccaneers account felt compelled enough to quote tweet the original post and respond in an official capacity by disavowing the imposter of Egbuka.
The below account is neither owned nor operated by Emeka Egbuka. It is in no way affiliated with Emeka or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. https://t.co/d3uZHhH5Nc
— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) March 11, 2026
Sports fans getting tricked by accounts misrepresenting fake athletes and reports is hardly a new phenomenon, but what makes this case particularly unusual is that the Buccaneers had previously acknowledged this account as the real Egbuka several times. The NFL Players' Association also followed the account prior to its suspension following the controversy.
Buccaneers tagged fake Emeka Egbuka X account almost 60 times https://t.co/2tevqgqUNr pic.twitter.com/Lkkz7Xms8A
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 13, 2026
Among the roughly five-dozen instances of acknowledgement from the Bucs includes the congratulations post the team made when Egbuka proposed to his fiancé towards the begging of the year. Egbuka eventually clarified via his Instagram account that he hasn't used X since his high school days when it was still officially known as "Twitter."
What a year for @EgbukaEmeka
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 3, 2026
Congratulations on your engagement, Emeka & Laney! pic.twitter.com/6TMUWLmsoT
From Emeka Egbuka re: his X account. Very confusing for a lot of people, I know, as it was widely followed and the team tagged it quite a bit. pic.twitter.com/2jBcnWTUWY
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) March 13, 2026
Be careful, sometimes you really have no idea who you could be talking to online!
ICYMI
New President at Ohio State: Welcome Ravi Bellamkonda
Ohio State announced the promotion of provost Ravi Bellamkonda to president on Thursday as he replaces Ted Carter following the latter's self-reported misconduct in office. Dan Hope has details concerning the new big man on campus.
Women's Hockey Makes Sixth Straight Frozen Four
Nadine Muzerall just won't quit. The standout coach for Ohio State women's hockey has the team in the semifinals for the sport's championship once again this year as the Buckeyes seek a potential rematch with Wisconsin in the title game after having last year's trophy evade their grasp in controversial fashion.
More NFL Buckeye Free Agency Updates
Some Buckeyes are staying, some are going, and the NFL free agency carousel rolls on. In case you took your eye off the hurricane this week, get all the updates on where your favorite former Buckeyes will be playing in the professional ranks next season.
What’s Next
- Women's Basketball: TBD, Friday or Saturday
- Men's Basketball: TBD, Thursday or Friday
- OSU Football Returns: vs. Ball State, Saturday, September 5th
