From the moment the Michigan sign-stealing investigation began to bubble in October, UM opponents began to be asked about how they would be making sure their information was secure from potentially prying, maize and blue eyes. Ohio State coach Ryan Day admitted that the Buckeyes had changed their signs the year before as rumors in coaching backchannels made it clear that the Wolverines were at the very least, adept at stealing signs during games. TCU ran dummy signals in last year’s Fiesta Bowl to try to conceal its plays, and Michigan State had a backup quarterback personally run the plays in from the sideline. So it should be no surprise that Michigan’s next opponent, Alabama, is doing what it takes to keep information under wraps.
“I think they said Michigan was stealing signs the first eight weeks,” Crimson Tide receiver Isaiah Bond said. “So we’re just watching film with the team, because we’re not allowed to watch film on our own. We don’t want any stuff like that happening again.”
Alabama switched the way its players can watch film about a week ago as a precaution in the run-up to the Michigan game. Normally, players are free to watch practice and game film on their opponent on their own personal tablets through Catapult, a software that also allows teams to track how much film a player is watching. This week, things are a little different.
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Members of the team are only allowed to watch film with their coaches in groups to try and protect their practice film. Offensive lineman Tyler Booker said the only thing different about the arrangement is where they watch the film. Quarterback Jalen Milroe has found ways around it to watch as much film as he usually does. Offensive lineman JC Latham actually said the arrangement works better for him.
“If anything, I watch it more intricately now because I know I can’t later,” offensive lineman JC Latham said. “But at home, I would just, you know, if I’m chilling on my game or if I’m getting some recovery in, I pop on some film and do 30 minutes at a time, 45 minutes at a time, whatever it might be. When I wake up or before I start school or before I eat breakfast or while I’m eating breakfast, watch some film. Changed the way I watch it but I definitely watch it more in-depth now because I can’t watch it at home.”
Nick Saban, like many football coaches, goes to great lengths to control information about his team, but had Connor Stallions still been employed by Michigan and carrying on the sign-stealing escapades, Saban may have met his match in the young staffer. There was seemingly no limit to what Stallions would do in order to get an edge and inform his personal philosophy on team building. In October, Sports Illustrated reported that Stallions claimed to have obtained a decade’s worth of high school national standardized test scores and GPAs for approximately 500 Midshipmen football players, a possible violation of the Federal Privacy Act.
Multiple Alabama players said they ignored the sign-stealing scandal when it broke, but their coaches certainly didn’t, evidenced by the precautions taken to guard against even the faint possibility of further Michigan espionage.
