Dave Portnoy will reportedly be barred from entering Ohio Stadium when the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes kick off their 2025 season against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns on Saturday. And as you may expect, this report caught the attention of many around college football, including former Michigan Wolverines assistant coach Connor Stalions.
Stalions is, of course, best known for his involvement in Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal, which resulted in him receiving an eight-year show-cause order that restricts him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period.
Despite Stalions largely taking a huge hit to his reputation in light of his involvement in his former team’s sign-stealing scandal, Barstool Sports was notably quick to embrace him immediately after the allegations came to light. In fact, there were even talks that Stalions would ultimately intern at Barstool last October.
While Stalions and Portnoy haven’t always seen eye to eye, the two still share the same contempt for the Ohio State Buckeyes football program, which is likely why Portnoy is reportedly “not welcome” inside of Ohio Stadium for Saturday’s game.
In light of Portnoy’s ban from Ohio Stadium, Stallions replied to a post from Portnoy on social media, reacting to the news with a picture of himself wearing a disguise, asking Portnoy whether he needed tickets to the Ohio State-Texas game.
It’s obviously an incredibly ironic response from Stalions when you consider the former Michigan staffer was famously accused of buying and transferring tickets to acquaintances in order for them to do in-person scouting of Michigan’s future regular-season opponents.
Chances are, security at Ohio Stadium will likely be on high alert for Portnoy. Especially given the fact that Portnoy is no stranger to sneaking into events where he is not allowed. He famously snuck into Super Bowl LIII in 2019 after being banned from NFL games four years earlier by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Only time will tell whether Portnoy will end up either contesting this decision from Ohio State or finding a way into the stadium using alternative methods. But at least for the time being, it sure seems as if Portnoy will not be present for Big Noon Kickoff‘s postgame show, which typically takes place inside the stadium they are in town for weekly.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.