For a brief time former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions was a pariah at the University of Michigan for his involvement in the Michigan sign stealing scandal in 2023. But between Michigan’s eventual national title and his work in helping to recruit star players to the program as a high school coach, he’s largely been redeemed in the eyes of Michigan fans.
Stalions may just use that redemption to someday return to the Michigan coaching staff, or so he hopes.
He stated as much in a recent interview with On3’s J.D. PicKell. During that interview, Stalions reiterated his longstanding goal of someday becoming the head coach of his beloved Wolverines. He declared that he’s prepared to “out-wait anyone” for his dream job.
“Of course,” Stalions said. “I’ll out-wait anyone. Whenever it’s time.”
But he also made it clear that he isn’t above taking a job at another Big Ten school if it means a chance at building his resume and securing the Wolverines job. Though there were two exceptions.
“If it’s not Ohio State [or] Michigan State,” Stalions stated. “They’d be crazy to do that. I think they’d know that if I were actually at Ohio State, we would, you know, I don’t know — go 11-0, and then, you know, take a knee when we’re down or something late in the game.”
“I’m not a fan of Michigan State,” Stalions said. “I got nothing against Jonathan Smith. He’s their new head coach. I mean, it was Mel Tucker, before that Mark Dantonio… I respect him (Dantonio), not a fan.”
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2024 saw Stalions join Bellevue High School as offensive coordinator, where he played a role in getting top quarterback prospect Bryce Underwood and defensive back Elijah Dotson to flip their commitments to Michigan for the 2024 season.
If Stalions can do that kind of recruiting for the Wolverines when he isn’t even a part of their organization, it’ll be easy for fans to imagine what he can do with the Michigan staff again.
Related: College Football Fans React To Connor Stalions’ New Coaching Gig
