Dabo Swinney shares his thoughts on sign stealing, Michigan scandal
Michigan is currently ranked the No. 2 team in the country and has, possibly, their best chance to win a national title in decades. So, the Wolverines being the talk of the country and other head coaches being asked about them wouldn't be the biggest surprise except for the fact we're not discussing the Wolverines' play on the field.
Michigan is under investigation for stealing opposing teams' signals in an elaborate operation that saw staffers attend other teams' games to obtain footage. Every major college coach in the nation will be asked about the emerging scandal coming out of Ann Arbor and this week Dabo Swinney was offered his chance to give thoughts on sign stealing and his opinion on the matter.
"Yeah, I mean in in-game it's always a part of whatever game you're in," the head coach started. "You're always looking over at the other sideline and you're trying to figure out what personnel is in the game and certainly if you figure something out in-game that's just always been a part of the game."
So from that perspective, Swinney is like everyone else in that he acknowledges all is fair once the lights come in the stadium. He recognizes why that's considered okay because it doesn't necessarily provide a clear advantage.
"It's hard to do, that's why everybody tries to protect. You got multiple signals, you got signs, you got different signalers, you got a lot of that you do to try to not make it easy for the opponent to pick up on your blitz signal or your run signal or your protection, whatever it is. It's just kind of been that way forever and ever and ever in college football or any level of football."
So what about the lengths to which Michigan has allegedly gone? Well, Swinney feels a little differently about that, "As far as all the other stuff I've never.. that's a new one. Again, I don't know any specifics of any of that stuff but you certainly can't have in-person scouting and videos and all that type of stuff."
There's a difference between what most coaches have judged to be allowed and fair game and what one of the best teams in the country over the last three seasons has been accused of doing. It should be noted that there are also some reports, or at the very least strong rumors, that Clemson may have been a victim of Michigan by proxy as South Carolina is a school that possibly benefited from the sign-stealing operation and received help from Michigan staffers before their games against Tennessee and later the Tigers. We can only hope that isn't the case.
