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USATSI

The University of Michigan police department has been working for several months now with the FBI to investigate the alleged computer access crimes committed by former Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, The Detroit Free Press reported Thursday. U-M police told the Free Press that the investigation, while "extensive, ongoing, and is of the utmost priority," is not related to the NCAA's investigation into alleged stealing of opponents' play-call signs by the Wolverines.  

Weiss was suspended and subsequently fired by Michigan in January after the investigation was launched by U-M police. The alleged computer access crimes committed by Weiss occurred from Dec. 21-23 in the team's football facilities, days before the Wolverines departed for their College Football Playoff matchup against TCU. A Jan. 5 report in the university's Daily Crime & Fire Log, presumed to be pertaining to Weiss, described "fraudulent activity involving someone accessing university emails accounts without authorization."

Weiss has not been arrested. He released a statement after his firing saying he anticipated "putting this matter behind me and returning my focus to the game I love." 

Weiss, 40, had just completed his second season on Jim Harbaugh's staff and first as co-offensive coordinator at the time of his firing. He arrived to the Wolverines as quarterbacks coach in 2021 after spending more than a decade with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens in a variety of assistant roles. Weiss was a member of the Vanderbilt football team from 2001-03 as a walk-on punter, but never saw playing time in his collegiate career. 

As for Michigan's unrelated sing-stealing scandal, the NCAA launched an investigation into the matter last week before reportedly sending enforcement staffers to Michigan's campus in Ann Arbor this week. The Wolverines are accused of a scheme -- allegedly spearheaded by suspended analyst Connor Stalions -- in which tickets were purchased to a swath of Michigan's Big Ten and potential CFP opponents over a two-season span with the purpose of filming and decoding play-call signals. Harbaugh has denied any wrongdoing by Michigan's staff and vowed cooperation with the NCAA during the investigation.