The Michigan Wolverines are being investigated by the NCAA for claims that they stole signs from other teams. The investigation is causing a stir, and we’ve seen multiple coaches from Big Ten schools offer their own opinions on the matter. But perhaps no coach offered as much of an elegant answer on the situation as that of Nebraska’s Matt Rhule.
The two schools already played each other this season, as the Cornhuskers lost in a 45-7 drubbing on Saturday, Sept. 30. The two programs aren’t exactly on a level playing field when it comes to talent, so even if Jim Harbaugh handed over his game plan to Rhule before last month’s contest, you likely would have seen a similar result.
Still, Rhule’s complete answer on sign stealing is one you need to hear:
Coach Rhule touches on sign stealing and if he noticed it when they played vs. #Michigan 👀 pic.twitter.com/NsZQDtXNY3
— 247Huskers (@247Huskers) October 23, 2023
“Yeah, sign-stealing happens every game. There’s nothing wrong with teams looking over and trying to steal our signs. There’s nothing wrong with us trying to look at their signs. That’s why you should have mics in the helmets, right?
All these coaches that vote against it every year, it’s because they don’t want to teach their quarterback.
In the NFL, each quarterback goes out there with three play calls because if I see the free safety’s foot like that, it might be one-high and I’m going to check to this play. You get to college and you’re watching a game on a Tuesday night, you know, they got the signal and they’re just calling plays. That’s what makes college football, to me, that’s why the score, maybe more points, but it’s also why the kids are less prepared.
That’s why there should be, 100 percent should be (headset-to-helmet communication). They could get rid of all the stupid signs on the sidelines, we could get pictures of rock stars and all that stuff, we could just play football the way it was meant to be.
You go to a high school game, there’s technology on the sideline. You go to an NFL game, there’s technology on the sideline. You go to the college (game), there’s nothing.”
Rhule was asked if he had any suspicions that Michigan had more than the usual amount of information when they played earlier this season.
“No one from the Big Ten or NCAA has asked me anything yet, so I’m not gonna probably comment on anything like that,” he said. “I would never want to cache it as somebody else going through a hard time. I don’t know anything.”
Whether Rhule knows something or not, his answer was an indictment on the NCAA without throwing anyone under the bus. It was a master class in how to handle a difficult question, and as someone who has seen both sides of the coin—in the NFL and college football—his opinion sure holds a lot of merit.
