Alabama is not taking any chances ahead of its Rose Bowl matchup against Michigan. The Crimson Tide doesn’t want their College Football Playoff counterparts to steal their signs.
Sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Bond revealed on Thursday that Nick Saban and the staff in Tuscaloosa changed the way that their team is studying film. Typically, especially with so few days until kickoff, players would be glued to their tablets. Every athlete gets an iPad on which they watch game tape of opponents and film from their own practices.
That is not the case this month!
The app we record film off… I guess they were looking at other people’s play calls, hand signals, stuff like that.
— Isaiah Bond
The Wolverines are still under investigation from the NCAA in regard to a nationwide sign-stealing scandal. Connor Stalions was at the forefront of the operation and took the fall after illegally scouting future opponents by filming their signals from the stands.
Michigan is also accused of tapping into a commonly-used film study app to source information from opponents. There is no definitive evidence to support that claim.
Alabama is not taking any chances!
According to Bond and offensive lineman Tyler Booker, coaches have asked players to refrain from watching film on their tablets. They have been trying to keep things more “in-house” and have been meeting in groups to watch film together on a screen that isn’t tied to the iPads.
Better safe than sorry!
The Crimson Tide is not the first team to change how they prepared for a college football game against the Wolverines. Especially in the Playoff!
TCU coaches created “dummy signals” to throw Michigan off of their scent last year.
That was before knowledge of the sign-stealing practices became more widely known. Now that we know of the shenanigans taking place under Jim Harbaugh’s watch, it behooves Saban and his team to go above and beyond when it comes to security.
The last thing that he needs is for the Wolverines to decipher his signals!