The Matt Weiss Story Is All Starting to Make More Sense
Back in January, the story surrounding Matt Weiss’ dismissal from the coaching staff of the University of Michigan’s Football program was odd to say the least. At the time, no one looking into the story could make much sense of what the former Michigan Co-offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach had done.
In a story in the Detroit Free-Press on the matter, the reason for the firing was alleged “computer access crimes.” Details beyond that were hard to come by.
Message boards filled with speculation about the nature of the offense, including talk of internet pornography, gambling, and even grade tampering. Amidst all the wild conjecture, nothing concrete really ever emerged.
Then in early October, news broke of the sign stealing scandal broke. In short order, the NCAA launched an investigation. A low-level staffer Connor Stalions who came to the Wolverines after a career in military intelligence quit amidst the cloud of controversy. Jim Harbaugh was eventually suspended for 3 games as punishment for the incident, but a full understanding of what actually happened or the full extent of the cheating is still unclear.
The relationship between Weiss & Stalions’ and any connection to their transgressions has also been elusive. Adding to the intrigue, it was revealed in late October that the FBI had launched an extensive Cyber Crimes investigation into Weiss’ actions at Michigan. According to an article by Matt Garcia in the Free-Press, authorities described the investigation as "extensive, ongoing, and [is]of the utmost priority. Additional information will be provided when available."
Fast forward to yesterday, and it seems we got a clue as to what may be going on. Several Alabama players revealed that the Tide Football program has taken additional security measures for Rose Bowl preparation including not allowing players to download video to personal devices or to view video outside team facilities.
In addition, Isaiah Bond made references to some vulnerability with the Catapult system used by Alabama and many other programs. Although not clear how Alabama uses Catapult, the system is capable of handling a wide variety of applications including film study and analysis, scouting reports, performance data analytics, and more.
Could it be the cybercrime Weiss is accused of is hacking into other team’s Catapult data? This would mean access to things like self-scouting data about players and their performance, film of team’s practices & install of a game plan, and more.
The implications are dizzying. If Michigan has access to this type of information, it would be a huge advantage and much more important than mere sign stealing.
One additional thing to consider is Alabama’s hiring of George Helow. Helow has been acting as a “special assistant” to coach Saban. Did he reveal the nature of this plot and help Alabama to know how to secure itself? Connecting the dots seems to be fairly easy at this point.
Time will tell whether this theory is correct, but something is afoot.
What do you think? Post your comments and let’s discuss.
Roll Tide!
