McElwain, staff accept sign-stealing penalties

**Former CMU Football Staff, Including Jim McElwain, Face Sanctions in Sign-Stealing Probe**

**INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. –** Former Central Michigan University head coach Jim McElwain and three of his former staff members have agreed to significant coaching restrictions and suspensions following an NCAA investigation into an alleged sign-stealing scheme during the 2021 football season. The penalties, which include game suspensions and show-cause orders, stem from their roles in obtaining opposing team signals prior to CMU’s September 25, 2021, game against Michigan State University.

The core of the NCAA’s findings centers on former assistant coach Tavita Thompson and defensive analyst Landon Henton, who are accused of obtaining video of Michigan State’s sideline signals. This was reportedly accomplished through a former student-athlete and an individual connected to Michigan State’s program just before the game. Sign-stealing itself is not prohibited by NCAA rules, but the method used – involving unauthorized third parties and potentially prohibited electronic means to gain an unfair advantage – constitutes a violation of ethical conduct and competition integrity.

Jim McElwain, who was the head coach at Central Michigan during the incident and is now the head coach at Eastern Michigan University, was cited for failing to adequately promote an atmosphere of compliance and for not monitoring Thompson and Henton. The NCAA Committee on Infractions (COI) stated that McElwain knew or should have known about his staff’s efforts to illicitly acquire the signals.

Derek Landri, who served as the director of football operations at CMU at the time and now holds the same position at Eastern Michigan, is accused of providing the former student-athlete with credentials that granted unauthorized access to the Michigan State sideline.

The agreed-upon penalties, which are final as all parties waived their right to appeal, are as follows:

* **Jim McElwain:** Received a one-year show-cause order, which would require any NCAA member institution employing him during that period to demonstrate why further penalties should not be applied to them. He also faces a three-game suspension for the upcoming 2024 season and a public reprimand.
* **Tavita Thompson:** Currently an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, Thompson has been issued a two-year show-cause order, a five-game suspension for the 2024 season, a public reprimand, and a 12-month ban from all off-campus recruiting activities.
* **Landon Henton:** Now a quality control coach at Eastern Michigan, Henton received a two-year show-cause order, a five-game suspension for the 2024 season, a public reprimand, and a 12-month ban from off-campus recruiting.
* **Derek Landri:** Landri has been given a two-year show-cause order, a public reprimand, and a 12-month ban from off-campus recruiting.

Central Michigan University itself has already faced institutional penalties related to the scandal. The university was hit with a $5,000 fine, a reduction of seven football scholarships spread across the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years, and is currently under a two-year probation period that commenced in May of this year.

In its official report, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions emphasized that the involved coaches showed a “disregard for the integrity of competition.” The COI labeled the use of a third party to gain an unfair advantage as “unacceptable behavior,” underscoring the severity of the ethical breach.

This resolution brings to a close a multi-year investigation into the actions of the former CMU staff, highlighting the NCAA’s increasing scrutiny of methods used to gain competitive advantages in collegiate athletics. The penalties will directly impact the involved coaches and Eastern Michigan’s football program during the 2024 season.