Disgraced former Michigan Wolverines staff member Connor Stalions spoke out this week about the theory that he shared the Tennessee Vols’ signs with the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022.

The idea is that Stalions, who stole signals from other programs by attending games in person while he worked for Michigan, shared Tennessee’s defensive signals with South Carolina ahead of an important November matchup between the Vols and the Gamecocks.

South Carolina beat Tennessee 63-38 in that matchup, effectively ending the Vols’ playoff hopes.

Stalions appeared on the Bunch Formation podcast this week and denied the allegations.

“I’ve never met anyone at South Carolina,” said Stalions. “I’ll also say this about Tennessee — I’d ask Joe Milton and Hendon Hooker. They know the truth. I’m tight with both of them. There was no trying to screw over Tennessee.”

“Let’s just say that if I had everything on a team. Why would I not want to play them in the playoffs?” added Stalions. “If I had everything on Tennessee, which I’ve never watched any Tennessee film to try to decipher signals. I do know they’re up-tempo…..I don’t know much about Tennessee.

“In theory — it could be Tennessee, it could be anyone — if I had the team’s signals and felt confident that it’s this competitive advantage that’s going to cause a margin like in that South Carolina game, why would I want another team to do it rather than us?”

There are a couple of reasons why Tennessee Vols fans don’t believe Connor Stallions

Vols fans, unsurprisingly, aren’t buying Stalions’ denial.

First of all, here’s the evidence that supports the theory that Stalions shared Tennessee’s signals with South Carolina.

• Michigan scouted a Tennessee game in person and, according to a report from Football Scoop, the Wolverines may have shared information with opponents of potential playoff teams to disrupt their path to the playoff. 
• There was a connection between Michigan and South Carolina via Gamecocks defensive coordinator Clayton White, who previously worked under then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
• South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was fined in 2015 for accepting information about another program’s game plan. 
• Just a couple of weeks before playing Tennessee in 2022, Beamer told reporters that he shares information with other programs/coaches about opponents. 

One reason why Tennessee fans don’t believe Stalions is that he admitted last year he shared signals with Ohio State in 2021, as Michigan needed Michigan State to lose to the Buckeyes.

Another reason is that the theory is that Michigan wanted to keep Tennessee out of a playoff spot to help secure its spot in the playoff. Michigan was undefeated, and Tennessee had just one loss (to Georgia) at the time. The Wolverines, however, still had to play Ohio State (which the Wolverines ended up winning). The Vols’ loss to the Gamecocks was insurance for Michigan. If Stalions did that to Michigan State in 2021, why would he not do the same to Tennessee in 2022?

By the way, Stalions suggested that Tennessee fans ask Milton about the theory.

Well, Milton weighed in earlier this summer on the theory on Instagram, writing, “Y’all Cheated Mane” on his story in response to a South Carolina player’s post about the Gamecocks’ win against the Vols in 2022.

There’s a lot of evidence that suggests the theory could be true, and not much evidence that backs up Stalions’ denial.

You be the judge.

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