Former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions fired back at Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Jack Sawyer over comments about Ohio State’s offensive schemes. Stallions unleashed a four-point breakdown on social media targeting Sawyer’s claims about Ohio State’s Slot YY formation usage.
1. Jack is saying Ohio St never ran a Slot YY formation all year (pull up any of their games on YouTube and you’ll see them run that look).
2. Their signal for this play was:
– The letter “Y” (TE in 99% of offenses)
– The Delay of Game sign
So “Y Delay.” 🤔 Wonder what this… https://t.co/7H37tisOkZ— Connor Stalions (@cpstalions) July 29, 2025
Fan reactions proved swift and explosive, with emotions running high on both sides of the rivalry. One particularly heated response captured the anger many felt about the situation:
“Openly admitting to cheating really is wild. It all needs to be gone—the fraudulent wins and the natty, and Michigan needs to reimburse each school and person cheated out of their livelihood by ruining the entire spirit of the game of football.”
Another fan reaction perfectly highlighted the regional rivalry aspect:
Another fan reaction perfectly encapsulated the regional rivalry aspect: “They’re called Ohio soft for a reason.”
“Give it up pal you cheated you got caught you diminished “the accomplishments” for the team up north. It’s over with, time to tuck your tail and leave you got your Netflix special” said one fan referring to Jack’s admission.
“Openly coming out and saying you cheated is crazy” ,commented another fan.
Meanwhile, some fans also defended Jack’s position and questioned Stalion on a few aspects:
“Connor our head coach among many other p4 teams have said it can take a year to fully change signals, so would you agree you can’t fully change all signs in one week. Would love your insight on this but since its ongoing NCAA investigation are you sure you can talk about it?”, asked a curious fan.
“Maybe Jack should stick to defense? Really tired of him kicking that old, dead horse. Maybe if he had been a little more focused on not getting run all over the field, he’d have beaten Michigan during his time at OSU…”, advised a fan on Sawyer’s potential position in the upcoming games.
Connor Stalions Breaks Down Ohio State’s Signal System
In what looked to be a methodical response, Stalions shared what he said were Ohio State’s actual signals for the play. He claimed the Buckeyes simply signaled a “Y” that meant tight end, and then their delay of game signal on the back end. Basically, a “Y Delay” type of sign with those two signals combined.
Even then, the former Michigan analyst accused Sawyer of being contradictory, all in that reading. Stalions pointed out that Sawyer said Ohio State had never run the formation, then eventually said they never used it before, meaning circular logic.
Even worse, Stalions brought up recognition from Ohio State’s coaching staff in the past that they were changing their signals for Michigan games. This was a direct shot at the sign-stealing controversy that had existed through the previous season.
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