Was he fired? Did he quit?
Either way, Connor Stalions is out as a football analyst at Michigan.
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports reported on Friday that Stalions, standing to the left of Jim Harbaugh in the photo attached to this item, was fired. The narrative then became that Stalions resigned.
It’s a distinction without a real difference, in my opinion. The wind was blowing in that direction. And it’s always a little cleaner for an employer if someone who would have been fired chooses to walk away.
In this case, there’s a mutual benefit. If Stalions is fired, the message is that Michigan concluded he did something wrong when engaged in advance scouting of future opponents. Stalions doesn’t want that message to be sent, and Michigan doesn’t either.
Stalions’s attorney, Brad Beckworth, issued a statement regarding the situation on Friday night.
“As he informed the school earlier today, Connor chose to resign because recent stories regarding his time with the University of Michigan have created a distraction for the team,” Beckworth said, via TheAthletic.com. “He hopes his resignation will help the team and coaching staff focus on tomorrow’s game and the remainder of the season. Connor also wants to make it clear that, to his knowledge, neither Coach Harbaugh, nor any other coach or staff member, told anyone to break any rules or were aware of improper conduct regarding the recent allegations of advanced scouting.”
(Does he think that resigning will make the distraction go away?)
The Athletic.com also reports that Stalions has refused to cooperate with any internal or external investigations regarding the matter.
But isn’t that exactly how something like this would go? Stalions, who went to the Naval Academy and was a captain in the Marine Corps, potentially realized from the get-go that (assuming the allegations and reports are true), if/when the shit should hit the fan, he’d be all alone. Plausible deniability, and whatnot.
So, no, I’m not prepared to accept the word of someone who allegedly/reportedly was involved in a clandestine operation premised on skullduggery. Until any and all appropriate investigations have ended, I’ll keep an open mind to the possibility that Stalions is simply activating the predetermined strategy for dealing with the scheme falling apart.
UPDATE 11/4/23 9:15 a.m. ET: Despite the report that Stalions was fired, the school and Stalions claim he resigned.
