Urban Meyer says Michigan football sign-stealing allegations are 'hard for me to believe'
Former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer has been silent on the Michigan sign-stealing allegations – until now.
Meyer, who left Ohio State after the 2018 season with a 7-0 record vs. Michigan, said he's skeptical of the reporting implicating the Wolverines and staff member Connor Stalions in an illegal scouting and sign-stealing scheme.
One reason? He's skeptical of reporters in general.
What Urban Meyer said about Michigan sign-stealing scandal
"This is really the first time, because it’s you and a guy I respect – so I’m very cautious," Meyer said this week on his podcast, "Urban's Take with Tim May."
"I’ve been asked over 100 times to comment on it and I just won’t. But I am going to, I’ll tell you my thoughts: First of all I’m very skeptical of reporters' reporting. My experience is they’re wrong most of the time. And that’s not a shot at the media, that’s reality. People say things that they’re reporting that’s just not true. So I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt saying, first of all it’s hard for me to believe that is true."
But Meyer, who went 4-0 against Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, also pushed back on the idea that every program does things like what Michigan has been accused of, and said the allegations, if true, are "egregious."
Stalions specifically has been accused of being the ringleader in an in-person scouting scheme to capture signals at more than 30 games across multiple seasons. The scheme hasn't been linked back to Harbaugh.
"I also heard people say that 'Well, everyone does that.' And Tim, no one does that," Meyer continued. "I’ve never heard of that in 40 years of being around the game. There’s a very clear … and that rule, some will say it’s not that important. Once again, everybody is entitled to their opinion. If they know your signals, it is that important. You’re changing the game. That’s very egregious if that’s what happened. I’m not saying it did, because I’m still skeptical it did."
