Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, speaking in advance of Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game against Washington, estimated that 80 percent of college football programs are engaged in sign stealing, including Michigan’s biggest rival.
“We actually had to adapt because in 2020 or 2019, when Ohio State was stealing our signs — which is legal — and they were doing it, we had to get up to the level they were at,” McCarthy said. “We had to make it an even playing field.”
Questions about sign stealing have followed the Wolverines throughout their journey to the national championship game. A former staffer, Connor Stalions, allegedly coordinated a scheme to compile video footage of other teams’ signals shot from the stands, which would violate NCAA rules banning in-person scouting. Stalions was suspended and later resigned but attended the Rose Bowl as a fan.
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Michigan should be punished, say 94% of CFB coaches in our poll. What else did it reveal?
Michigan is 7-0 since news of the scouting scandal broke, including Monday’s 27-20 victory against Alabama. Players have maintained that the sign-stealing allegations shouldn’t diminish their 14-0 record or a potential national championship.
“You could say it’s all sign stealing, but there’s a lot more that goes into (a) play, and a lot of stuff that gets masked, a lot of work that gets masked just because of the outside perception of what sign stealing is all about,” McCarthy said.
The Big Ten deemed Michigan’s in-person scouting scandal a violation of the league’s sportsmanship policy and suspended coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season. The NCAA is investigating the in-person scouting allegations and recently issued a formal notice of allegations in connection with a previous infractions case involving recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period.
Harbaugh didn’t have much to say Wednesday when asked how he would respond if the NCAA forced Michigan to vacate wins.
“I guess you want to live in the world of rumorville or speculation,” Harbaugh said. “We don’t have any room to be doing that at this point.”
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(Photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)
2024-01-03 20:28:01
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