Michigan Football Under Investigation for Allegedly Stealing Opponents’ Play Signs
Paul Sancya/AP
The University of Michigan football team is under investigation by the NCAA following allegations of the team stealing opponents’ signs, Yahoo Sports reported Thursday.
According to the report, the Wolverines are accused of having people attend “both scheduled opponents and possible College Football Playoff opponents” to figure out which signs these opponents use on offense and defense.
Per NCAA rules, “off-campus, in-person scouting” in the same season is prohibited. Traditionally, teams are provided footage used to scout opponents.
As the report noted, sign stealing is a complicated area in college football. While it’s not technically prohibited, the act of scouting in person has been since 1994. Using electronic equipment to relay information to players and coaches is also against the rules.
At 7-0, the Wolverines are currently ranked second in the country and first in the Big Ten East. Two previous opponents – who were not identified – told Yahoo Sports they discovered during their games that Michigan had figured out their play signs.
“Late Wednesday afternoon, the Big Ten Conference and University of Michigan were notified by the NCAA that the NCAA was investigating allegations of sign stealing by the University of Michigan football program,” the conference said in a statement Thursday. “The Big Ten Conference has notified Michigan State University and future opponents. The Big Ten Conference considers the integrity of competition to be of utmost importance and will continue to monitor the investigation. The Conference will have no further comment at this time.”
In its own statement, the university said it is fully cooperating with the investigation and “committed to the highest ethical and integrity standards for all members of our community.”
For many sports fans, sign-stealing isn’t typically associated with college football – but it does happen. However the investigation concludes, it likely won’t be as explosive as the Houston Astros controversy from a few years ago.
