At Thursday’s media session with players from Alabama and Michigan ahead of the Rose Bowl, Crimson Tide wideout Isaiah Bond made news when he told reporters Alabama players were instructed not to watch film on their iPads this week due to security concerns, per USA Today‘s Dan Wolken.
The app Bond said players were specifically told not to use is called Catapult, which provides comprehensive video and data analysis solutions for football teams. In response to a For The Win inquiry, a company spokesman confirmed the existence of an ongoing NCAA investigation into unauthorized access of football video footage and is cooperating with local authorities in the matter.
Per Catapult:
“We are aware of the ongoing investigation of the alleged unauthorized access to NCAA football video footage. We have conducted an internal investigation and have not found any security breach in our systems. We have shared this with local authorities that are conducting an investigation. We will continue to support the ongoing investigation with the NCAA and local authorities. At Catapult, we hold ourselves to the highest of standards and safeguarding customer information is of utmost importance to us.”
It’s unclear if this NCAA investigation is related to Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal or a separate issue. Per Wolken:
Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees declined several opportunities to elaborate on why the Tide felt the need to protect its practice film, but teams typically distribute that type of footage direct to players’ iPads via an online cloud storage service. Though nobody said it explicitly, the implication would be that Alabama wanted to take extra precaution against hacking into the film system.
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy told reporters on Friday his team hasn’t watched film on their iPads since November. Wolverines offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore confirmed as much by noting the team has been watching film in-house only.
“Yeah, just caught wind of things that could be going on,” Moore said, per 247Sports’ Zach Shaw. “Just told our kids, I think it was early November, ‘hey, we’re not watching stuff on the iPads anymore. Watch it in-house and handle it that way.'”
For The Win reached out to the NCAA for clarification and did not immediately hear back.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
