Trickery occurred during TCU’s game against Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinals last year.
After receiving information about Michigan’s elaborate sign-stealing plan, the TCU coaches changed many of their play-calling signals before kickoff. However, head coach Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs staff had bigger ideas than just changing signals.
They dealt a quick blow to the Wolverines.
They mixed new play-call signals with old ones, using what one TCU official called “dummy signals” to trick the UM staff. The dummy signals were old game calls that had since been changed. Players were told to ignore the dummy signals and play the original game as advertised with the new signals.
“Sometimes we froze a play before the snap,” a TCU coach said. “We called a play and then signaled another play with an old signal, but we told the players to make the original play.”
TCU, a 7.5-point underdog, defeated Michigan 51-45 in that Fiesta Bowl semifinal matchup, surprising much of the college football world with a win that sent Dykes’ team to the national championship game against Georgia. The Horned Frogs lost that game 65-7, But their victory in the semifinals stands as one of the most incredible upsets in College Football Playoff history — and now serves as another wrinkle in what has become the Deflategate version of the college game.
A week into the saga, most people now know the details: A now-suspended Michigan analyst, Connor Stalions, bought tickets to more than 40 college football games to record opponents’ signals in an elaborate three-year plan, that shook the sport. In news first reported by Yahoo Sports last Thursday, the NCAA is investigating the program for violating the association’s rules on in-person scouting.
TCU cornerback Kee’Yon Stewart points after a play against Michigan during the Horned Frogs’ victory in the Fiesta Bowl. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
In the last seven days, further news about the case has leaked from various media outlets.
Most recently, the Washington Post reported Wednesday that an outside investigative firm first tipped off Michigan’s sign-stealing scheme to the NCAA last week, providing officials with documents discovered on computers managed and accessed by UM coaches that system, including travel plans and expenses for future trips.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that NCAA investigators were gathering information for the investigation at the Michigan campus.
The scope of the plan seems huge. According to a Monday report from ESPN, Stallions purchased tickets to games at 12 of 13 Big Ten schools for a total of 30 games. At least one of the schools produced surveillance video at the stadium that showed someone recording the sideline on the field that Stalions had booked. He also bought tickets to games with CFP contenders such as Tennessee, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama and Clemson, as well as the last two SEC championship games, Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday.
In one case, Stalions bought a ticket to Tennessee’s game against Kentucky last season given the Volunteers’ supporting role. Three minutes after purchasing it, he probably handed the ticket to a co-worker or friend who was supposed to record the game.
At TCU, the school has found no evidence that the Stalions bought a ticket to a home game last season, but there were ample opportunities to record the Horned Frogs in away games or in the Big 12 Championship against Kansas State.
Not long after the CFP announced the 2022 semifinal games — Georgia vs. Ohio State and TCU vs. Michigan — the Horned Frogs staff began receiving calls from coaches across the country about something that was well known in the Big Ten coaching community: that Michigan had an elaborate sign-stealing system.
Many of the TCU employees didn’t know about it before the calls. Coaches from several Big Ten schools, including Ohio State, informed the TCU coaches about the program.
“Literally everyone we talked to knew,” one TCU coach said. “They would say, ‘Just so you know, they’re stealing your signals and will have everything, so you better change them.'”
A coach told the staff that Michigan “has the most elaborate signal stealing in the history of the world.”
TCU has changed some signals. What’s more interesting, however, is that they intentionally used the old signals to outsmart the Wolverines – a move that isn’t all that surprising given the shrewd nature of their head coach. Dykes is a protégé of Mike Leach, a coach known for poking fun at those who steal signals. In a game as coach at Washington State, Leach learned that the coach of his team’s next opponent, Arizona State’s Todd Graham, was notorious for stealing signals. During the game against ASU Leach aggressively signaled to Graham in a hilarious moment that has been making the rounds on social media in recent days.
A lot of people see a lot of Leach in Dykes. So why not give the Wolverines some of their own medicine?
Dykes and his staff developed a game plan that at least partially used the fake signals to deceive coach Jim Harbaugh and signalman Stalions. TCU scored touchdowns in the first half on drives of 10 plays for 83 yards and 12 plays for 76 yards.
“The guy [Stalions] was wrong a few times,” said a TCU employee. “We watched the TV version of the game again. He can be seen standing next to the defensive coordinator. He tells the coordinator something and points in the air to signify “pass.” You can see the game sheet he’s holding with our hand signals on it.”
In addition to changing some signs, TCU has taken several measures to avoid the problem. The staff intentionally signaled late to not give the Stals enough time to relay the signal to the coaches.
“There are times in the game where they still get us,” a TCU official said, “especially on short yardage.”
TCU’s Dee Winters returns an interception for a touchdown during the Horned Frogs’ victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 31. (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Signal stealing is not against NCAA rules. However, the association prohibits coaches or employees from personally watching the games of upcoming opponents – a rule that is almost 30 years old. Stealing an opponent’s signals during a game or from the television broadcast is not a violation of NCAA rules. In fact, it happens quite frequently in college football.
Throughout history, many opposing coaches from rival schools have been caught in scouting games, spring games or practices, but many of them remain unpublicized and given the silent treatment by the NCAA.
The Michigan case represents the largest sign-stealing scheme ever disclosed in the recent history of college sports. It’s no surprise that the system eventually leaked due to its sheer size and stupid practices.
Stalions bought tickets in his own name, and Michigan staffers used large white game sheets on the sideline during games that featured the opposing team’s hand signals in black – stills of which leaked onto the Internet.
Big Ten coaches figured it out a long time ago.
As Yahoo Sports reported last week, news of the sign-stealing spread so widely that several Michigan opponents this season dropped their signaling during the game against the Wolverines and used wristbands for much of the offensive play calls.
“We heard they had a guy who was picking plays pretty well and had all this information that wasn’t the usual methods of getting the signals,” a Big Ten official said. “We come into the game and it’s the second quarter. I see him on the other side of the field and he’s checking his 11×17 sheet.”
Sources say the sign theft dates back to at least 2021. The Wolverines have won 33 of their last 36 games this season. Michigan is 8-0 and ranked No. 2 this season and is in a bye this week before a home game against Purdue on Nov. 4.
A timeline for the NCAA’s investigation is unclear. It just started last week. NCAA requests like these often take months, if not years, and involve an even more lengthy appeals process that could delay the imposition of potential penalties.