One of the biggest stories in sports right now is surrounding the Michigan football team and their sign-stealing investigation. A low-level staffer has been suspended with pay from the Wolverines team since the investigation began, and he apparently bought tickets to numerous Big Ten football games in recent years, but they were not used by him. Michigan has won two straight Big Ten titles, and they are currently 8-0 and ranked #2 in the country this year. Numerous coaches around the conference have been asked about the Wolverines' current scandal, and one coach that recently offered his thoughts is Penn State football head coach James Franklin.
James Franklin and his Penn State football team just lost to Ohio State over the weekend, and the Nittany Lions have a huge matchup with Michigan football on November 11th. If the Nittany Lions want to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive, they will need to beat the Wolverines.
“You got to have a way to disguise your signals,” James Franklin said, according to an article from Blue By Ninety. “Everybody does it, whether they do it with sheets, or boards, or whatever it may be. We made some changes after the bye week as well in how we operate on offense and defense (in terms of signaling plays). (But) specific to that, I probably won’t get into what’s going on at that other school. But in general, we’re always aware of how we signal (and if) are we disguising it. What happens is, you get after games, and you feel like you called something very unpredictable call in a certain situation, and they’re in the perfect defense for it. And you’re like, ‘What would ever make you play cover 2 on 4th and 1, and we’re in the heavy personnel group?’ But they’re in it, and you got a shot called there.”
Every coach that has spoken on the matter is aware that sign-stealing is part of the game, and they are always on the lookout for it. That is the case for Penn State right now, and because of the situation at Michigan, the Nittany Lions will be ready for that when the Wolverines come to town in a couple of weeks.
“Those things kind of make you second guess,” Franklin continued. “And you kind of go back and look at those things and what you need to do to disguise it. And if it happens once, that’s one thing. But if it happens over and over, then you’re aware of it. So, for us, it’s something we always are looking at. But obviously, with some of the things going on right now, it magnifies it.”
It's unclear where this Michigan football investigation will lead at this point as there are still a lot of unknowns. However, the Wolverines still have their two biggest games on the schedule: Penn State and Ohio State. Now that everybody is aware of the situation, it will be interesting to keep an eye on those two big matchups and see how they play out.