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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Connor Stalions, the former Michigan football staffer at the center of the NCAA’s scouting and sign-stealing investigation, is a budding entrepreneur who registered businesses in at least three states.
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One of those businesses, Wyoming-based BC2 Housing LLC, lists Michigan running back Blake Corum as a co-organizer alongside Stalions and another man. But Corum and his father both say they had no idea the company existed and aren’t sure how Corum’s name ended up on the founding documents.
“Blake knew nothing about this,” James Corum said Wednesday. “(Stalions) was just a guy at the facility. They didn’t have any relationships or anything.”
The business was registered March 28, 2022, according to documents filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State. Only Stalions’ electronic signature appears on the initial filing. Blake Corum said he first became aware of the company after documents began circulating on social media Tuesday afternoon.
“My first time hearing it was when I went out to practice,” he said. “I don’t have any business with Connor or anything like that. My attorneys are on it. We’ll definitely get that figured out right away and get my name taken off of whatever it is.”
James Corum declined to provide the name of the family attorney handling the matter. The third co-organizer, Connor O’Dea, did not respond to phone calls and text messages Wednesday but previously spoke with The Athletic about his relationship with Stalions.
The Athletic first contacted O’Dea two weeks ago to ask about two businesses he started with Stalions in Michigan, one called Flexfit LLC and the other called Sonset Housing. O’Dea, who identified himself as a former roommate of Stalions’, said the two were no longer in business together and declined to answer questions about the companies.
O’Dea did, however, speak about his personal connection with Stalions, who resigned from his position as a recruiting analyst Friday after being suspended with pay two weeks prior. Stalions, a 28-year-old former U.S. Marine known for decoding signals, is accused of purchasing tickets to games involving Michigan’s future opponents and forwarding them to contacts who filmed signals from the stands. O’Dea, 25, said Stalions rarely spoke about his work with the football program and was gone most of the time when the two were roommates.
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O’Dea, who also hails from Stalions’ hometown of Lake Orion, Mich., described Stalions as driven, ambitious and loyal.
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“He definitely isn’t what the media is making him out to look like, this malevolent person,” O’Dea said. “I certainly do not think that he had any ill intentions. Whether he made a mistake or not I have no idea. I know from a morals and ethics (standpoint) he’s a good person.”
O’Dea said he and Stalions bonded over their shared ambitions and entrepreneurial interests. O’Dea is listed as the resident agent for several Michigan companies, including one called Apollo LLC and another called Always Wonderful LLC. He also operates a company called Upscaled that sells refurbished electronics.
Buying and selling refurbished goods was an interest O’Dea apparently shared with Stalions, who ran afoul of an Ann Arbor homeowners’ association for allegedly operating a business out of a condominium he purchased in 2022 for $485,000.
As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Country French Estates Association sued Stalions in Washtenaw County trial court for violating its bylaws by piling trash in front of his home, parking a trailer in his driveway and storing dozens of vacuum cleaners on the front porch, according to court documents.
In a lengthy written response, Stalions described himself as a coach — he was technically an administrative specialist — and said he spent 14 hours a day at Michigan’s football facility, as “Coach Harbaugh, Jesse Minter and every player and staff member in the building can attest.” Stalions said his long hours with the football program left him with little time to devote to his business, Home Essentials Distribution.
Stalions wrote in his response that he believed the lawsuit was motivated by a prejudice against military veterans or a dislike for the Michigan football program. He cited his interactions with a neighborhood resident named Jeff with a son at Michigan State who “uncomfortably questioned me about Michigan football and what goes on in our building, giving me a bad feeling about him.”
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A judge issued a default ruling in favor of the homeowners’ association, ordering Stalions to comply with the HOA agreement and pay legal fees totaling $6,012.92.
Before he joined Michigan’s football program as a full-time staffer in 2022, Stalions was a student volunteer and Michigan superfan who traveled on his own dime to support the program. A profile published by an organization called Soldiers to Sidelines in 2022 said Stalions purchased a home that he used as a short-term rental to fund his football travel and slept in his car to save money.
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Landing a full-time position on Michigan’s football staff was a dream come true for Stalions, O’Dea said.
“He was ecstatic about getting the position and being involved with Michigan,” O’Dea said. “It was his dream job for sure. He definitely said that to me, that he loved Michigan and his goal to be a Michigan coach.”
Stalions resigned his position last week and issued a statement to The Athletic that read, in part: “I do not want to be a distraction from what I hope to be a championship run for the team, and I will continue to cheer them on.”
Corum said the revelation of the LLC caught him by surprise but won’t distract him from No. 3 Michigan’s game Saturday at No. 10 Penn State.
“Maybe other people are trying to use it as a distraction, but it’s not a distraction for me,” Corum said.
(Top photo of Blake Corum: David Berding / Getty Images)
