ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Connor Stalions, the former Michigan football staffer at the center of the NCAA’s scouting and sign-stealing investigation, is a budding entrepreneur who has registered businesses in at least three states.
One of those companies, Wyoming-based BC2 Housing LLC, names 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 were unsure how Corum’s name ended up in the founding documents.
“Blake didn’t know anything about it,” James Corum said Wednesday. “(Stalions) was just a guy in the facility. They didn’t have relationships or anything.”
The company was registered on March 28, 2022, according to documents filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State. Only Stallions’ electronic signature appears on the initial registration. Blake Corum said he first became aware of the company after documents began circulating on social media Tuesday afternoon.
“I first heard it when I went to practice,” he said. “I have nothing to do with Connor or anything like that. My lawyers are there. We will definitely find out about this immediately and make sure my name is removed from whatever it is.”
James Corum declined to name the family attorney handling the matter. The third co-organizer, Connor O’Dea, did not respond to phone calls and text messages on Wednesday, but previously spoke to The Athletic about his relationship with Stalions.
The Athletic first contacted O’Dea two weeks ago to ask about two companies he started with Stalions in Michigan, one called Flexfit LLC and the other called Sonset Housing. O’Dea, who identified himself as Stalions’ former roommate, said the two no longer did business together and declined to answer questions about the businesses.
However, O’Dea spoke about his personal connection to Stalions, who resigned from his post as human resources analyst on Friday after being suspended two weeks earlier. Stalions, a 28-year-old former U.S. Marine known for decoding signals, is accused of buying tickets to games featuring future Michigan 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 away most of the time when the two were roommates.
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O’Dea, who is also from the Stalions’ hometown of Lake Orion, Michigan, described Stalions as ambitious, driven and loyal.
“He’s definitely not what the media portrays him to be, this malicious person,” O’Dea said. “I certainly don’t think he had any ill intentions. I don’t know whether he made a mistake or not. I know he is a good person from a moral and ethical perspective.”
O’Dea said he and Stalions bonded over their shared ambitions and entrepreneurial interests. O’Dea is listed as a resident representative of several Michigan companies, including one called Apollo LLC and one called Always Wonderful LLC. He also runs a company called Upscaled, which 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 had bought.
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the Country French Estates Association sued Stalions in Washtenaw County court for violating bylaws by piling trash in front of his home, parking a trailer in his driveway and leaving dozens of vacuum cleaners on the 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 in the football program left him little time to devote to his business, Home Essentials Distribution.
Stallions wrote in his response that he believes the lawsuit was motivated by prejudice against military veterans or a dislike of the Michigan football program. He cited his interactions with a local resident named Jeff, whose son at Michigan State University “asked me uncomfortably about Michigan football and what was going on in our building and made me feel bad about him.”
A judge entered a default judgment in favor of the homeowners association, ordering Stallions to comply with the HOA agreement and pay legal fees totaling $6,012.92.
Before joining Michigan’s football program as a full-time employee in 2022, Stalions was a student volunteer and Michigan superfan who traveled on his own to support the program. According to a profile published by an organization called Soldiers to Sidelines in 2022, Stalions bought a house that he used as a short-term rental to finance his football trip and slept in his car to save money.
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For Stalions, getting a full-time position on the Michigan football team was a dream come true, O’Dea said.
“He was excited to get the job and commit to Michigan,” O’Dea said. “It was definitely his dream job. He definitely told me that, that he loves Michigan and his goal of being Michigan coach.”
Stalions resigned from his position last week and issued a statement to The Athletic that said in part: “I do not want to distract from what I hope will be a championship run for the team and I will continue to cheer them on. “”
Corum said the LLC revelation surprised him but won’t distract him from No. 3 Michigan’s game against No. 10 Penn State on Saturday.
“Maybe other people try to use it as a distraction, but for me it’s not a distraction,” Corum said.
(Top photo by Blake Corum: David Berding / Getty Images)