Navy Grad At Center Of Michigan Cheating Scandal

[Dong Fong '09]

I’ll be honest. I don’t really understand why scouting in person is such a big deal, but find it hilarious it’s a navy grad at the center of this

https://www.espn.com.sg/college-footbal ... tid=Zxz2cZ

[FSUBulldog0]

I agree with you on the stupidity of the rule. I also find it funny that a squid is in the middle of it.

[kfan12]

until all colleges have radio comms between the sideline and the QB, stealing signals is cheating. So yeah, Navy grad who didn't learn their ethos.

[gabn92]

As I understand it, the rule against scouting in person was put in place as a cost-saving measure. Basically an agreement that everyone would stop doing that and use the standard game tapes. Nothing wrong with in person scouting, except when everyone agrees to stop doing it…and you keep doing it. For the smaller programs that don’t have the budgets and luxury to fly staffers all over the country to scout future opponents, it’s a nod toward keeping some semblance
of competitive balance and not letting an arms race form among the “haves” who could really make things ridiculous if it was open season on what you can do to scout your opponents. For a blueblood “have” program like Michigan to be trying to gain this little advantage…shameful. They don’t or shouldn’t need it.

Hope they get penalized this season for it. But doubtful with the speed the NCAA works…and the money that can still be made by letting them run the course this season and punish them later.

[FSUBulldog0]

until all colleges have radio comms between the sideline and the QB, stealing signals is cheating. So yeah, Navy grad who didn't learn their ethos.

As I understand it, the stealing of signals isn’t against the rules. It’s the in-person scouting that is against the rules. I find that to be kind of dumb.

[FSUBulldog0]

As I understand it, the rule against scouting in person was put in place as a cost-saving measure. Basically an agreement that everyone would stop doing that and use the standard game tapes. Nothing wrong with in person scouting, except when everyone agrees to stop doing it…and you keep doing it. For the smaller programs that don’t have the budgets and luxury to fly staffers all over the country to scout future opponents, it’s a nod toward keeping some semblance
of competitive balance and not letting an arms race form among the “haves” who could really make things ridiculous if it was open season on what you can do to scout your opponents. For a blueblood “have” program like Michigan to be trying to gain this little advantage…shameful. They don’t or shouldn’t need it.

Hope they get penalized this season for it. But doubtful with the speed the NCAA works…and the money that can still be made by letting them run the course this season and punish them later.

This seems like the least-likely thing to maintain competitive balance. Limit the numbers of analysts, add an expenditure limit on recruiting, etc if you want to maintain competitive balance. Scouting in person seems like the most cost effective way to prepare. And yes, I know it’s the rule and they shouldn’t break the rule. I’m just saying it’s a stupid rule.

[Dong Fong '09]

Since I first posted this, so much hilarious information has come out about this.

There is a Venmo trail following this guy. He also bought all these tickets in his own name. What an absolute dumbass lol.

[gabn92]

As I understand it, the rule against scouting in person was put in place as a cost-saving measure. Basically an agreement that everyone would stop doing that and use the standard game tapes. Nothing wrong with in person scouting, except when everyone agrees to stop doing it…and you keep doing it. For the smaller programs that don’t have the budgets and luxury to fly staffers all over the country to scout future opponents, it’s a nod toward keeping some semblance
of competitive balance and not letting an arms race form among the “haves” who could really make things ridiculous if it was open season on what you can do to scout your opponents. For a blueblood “have” program like Michigan to be trying to gain this little advantage…shameful. They don’t or shouldn’t need it.

Hope they get penalized this season for it. But doubtful with the speed the NCAA works…and the money that can still be made by letting them run the course this season and punish them later.

This seems like the least-likely thing to maintain competitive balance. Limit the numbers of analysts, add an expenditure limit on recruiting, etc if you want to maintain competitive balance. Scouting in person seems like the most cost effective way to prepare. And yes, I know it’s the rule and they shouldn’t break the rule. I’m just saying it’s a stupid rule.

Agree...not sure how good or effective the rule is...perhaps it seemed like an easy one at the time to get support and approval to put some limit on what's done to scout your opponents. Limiting the number of analysts seems like a smart idea...but they probably should just set a cap on the size of the staff as coaches would find ways to rename people from "analyst" to something else to get around a limit on "analysts" lol. Anything for a competitive advantage, and with large programs with nearly endless resources, it just makes the gulf between the have's and the have-nots that much greater.

[ArmorDude]

Since I first posted this, so much hilarious information has come out about this.

There is a Venmo trail following this guy. He also bought all these tickets in his own name. What an absolute dumbass lol.

Not defending the squid, but it sounds like he didn't know about the rule. Otherwise, he would have done things to not create a paper trail, which would be more shady IMO.

Ignorance is no excuse, but at least he didn't make it worse.

Beat somebody ... please.

[kfan12]

until all colleges have radio comms between the sideline and the QB, stealing signals is cheating. So yeah, Navy grad who didn't learn their ethos.

As I understand it, the stealing of signals isn’t against the rules. It’s the in-person scouting that is against the rules. I find that to be kind of dumb.

removed duplicate post