Well, that's certainly one way to ... send a signal.
In its long-awaited response to the NCAA's more-than-year-long probe of alleged cheating in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scheme, Michigan has issued its formal response to the NCAA and indicated it will vigorously defend its football program against the accusations, as well as the NCAA's "overreach."
Ross Dellenger first reported on the document.
Stalions, a former volunteer assistant in then-coach Jim Harbaugh's Michigan program who eventually climbed into a full-time analyst role with the Wolverines, has been the focal point of an investigation that predates Michigan's national championship that punctuated its unbeaten 2023 season.
A Naval Academy graduate, Stalions has been accused of being the mastermind of an elaborate sign-stealing scheme that aided Michigan's Big Ten dominance in the final two years of Harbaugh's tenure at his alma mater. He's been accused to have organized and deployed associates and friends to advance scouting assignments at numerous Michigan opponents, including both within the Big Ten Conference and also projected College Football Playoff foes.
Of note, Stalions has since admitted in a Netflix documentary that he received "advanced scouting information."
Per Dellenger's report, he noted that Michigan filed an nearly 140-page rebuttal to the NCAA, which the school accused of overstepping its bounds in its probe of the matter.
Harbaugh served a multi-game suspension and Stalions was suspended before he permanently departed the Michigan football program.
The scandal also has brought another institution, Central Michigan, under the NCAA microscope after Stalions was spotted on the CMU sideline for a game against Michigan rival, Michigan State.
Dellenger said that while the NCAA acknowledged it had received Michigan's response, it had no comment; nor did Michigan officials or the Big Ten.
The complete Yahoo! report is here: Michigan's NCAA response.
Already, the NCAA slammed Harbaugh with a four-year show-cause penalty that essentially could preclude him from coaching at the collegiate level -- though Harbaugh already had exited Michigan for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers franchise.