A former assistant football coach for the Baltimore Ravens and the University of Michigan, Matt Weiss, faced a federal judge in Detroit on Monday, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Weiss is charged with unauthorized computer access and identity theft, accusations stemming from a years-long scheme to hack into the private accounts of thousands of college athletes to obtain intimate images, primarily of women.
The court appearance, which was brief, occurred just days after a 14-page indictment was filed outlining the allegations against Weiss. According to the indictment, Weiss illegally accessed computer systems from 2015 until early 2023. Both Weiss and his attorney, Douglas Mullkoff, waived a public reading of the charges and declined to comment as they left the courthouse on a frigid, windy day.
The legal troubles for Weiss do not stop with the federal case. On Friday, a separate class-action lawsuit was filed against the University of Michigan on behalf of a former female gymnast and a former women’s soccer team member. The lawsuit alleges the university failed to properly supervise Weiss, which resulted in an invasion of privacy for the plaintiffs and thousands of other athletes. According to attorney Parker Stinar, who represents the plaintiffs, the university neglected its responsibility to monitor Weiss’s activities, allowing him to illegally access and exploit private information. The University of Michigan has declined to comment on the matter.
The federal indictment provides disturbing details about the extent of Weiss’s alleged actions. It claims that he accessed databases maintained by Keffer Development Services, a third-party vendor managing information for more than 100 colleges and universities. Through this breach, Weiss allegedly obtained personal and medical data for over 150,000 athletes. Furthermore, the indictment states that he infiltrated the social media, email, and cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 athletes, as well as the private accounts of over 1,300 students or alumni from schools nationwide.
The indictment emphasizes that Weiss’s primary objective was to obtain private photographs and videos that were never meant to be shared beyond the athletes’ intimate partners. This invasive and extensive breach has prompted significant legal and public scrutiny.
Weiss’s career in football coaching spanned both collegiate and professional levels. He joined the University of Michigan’s coaching staff in 2021 and served as co-offensive coordinator during the Wolverines’ impressive 13-1 season in 2022, which concluded with a College Football Playoff appearance. However, his tenure ended in 2023 when he was dismissed for failing to cooperate with a school-led investigation. Prior to his time at Michigan, Weiss worked with the Baltimore Ravens for over a decade in various coaching capacities.
The legal proceedings against Weiss are ongoing, and if convicted, he could face severe penalties for his alleged involvement in the extensive data breach and privacy violations.
