News Article: Clemson Football: How Tigers Mastered the art of Signal Stealing

[Saban4Ever]

Below is a link to an interesting article. I wonder how well Bama does this and which of the Grad assistants help with this for Golding.

How Clemson Mastered the (Totally Legal) Art of Signal Stealing

Dabo Swinney has built a juggernaut, but his program's secret sauce is not so secret inside college football.

www.si.com

 

[crimsonaudio]

Came here to post this - really good read.

 

[atlbama]

Fascinating to me. I knew it went on to some degree but had no idea it was this prevalent or organized. Now back to putting my head in the sand.

 

[BamaNation]

Using Big Data analysis & AI will be the next step in auto-detecting and deciphering signaling using video. Given the resources of the P5, it may already be happening at a small scale. I could see using digital animation technology to identify the signal callers and then track their signals automatically. That data, along with each play, would be crunched using data mining to identify the non-obvious. I don't know the rules on using this stuff in-game, but could certainly be done on scouting for the following week.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

awbern is among the elite signal stealers in CFB...

 

[B1GTide]

I get that it's not illegal, and that it is part of the game behind the game, but it is also totally devoid of sportsmanship. Yes, you can. But that doesn't make it right.

 

[AlexanderFan]

I get that it's not illegal, and that it is part of the game behind the game, but it is also totally devoid of sportsmanship. Yes, you can. But that doesn't make it right.

Helps explain the absolute drubbing given to Bama by them.

Just run five certain plays at break neck speed, with fake signals on the side. Slow down, substitute with one player and huddle with five more plays, then rocket off again.

just go back to the huddle

 

[Rolltide51]

Helps explain the absolute drubbing given to Bama by them.

Just run five certain plays at break neck speed, with fake signals on the side. Slow down, substitute with one player and huddle with five more plays, then rocket off again.

just go back to the huddle

or try just having the quarterback call the plays either in the huddle or at the line. if it works keep doing it and if it doesn't then just let me know and i'll shut up.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I get that it's not illegal, and that it is part of the game behind the game, but it is also totally devoid of sportsmanship. Yes, you can. But that doesn't make it right.

That like saying, it isn't illegal for me to date an 18 year old.

 

[colbysullivan]

I haven’t had a chance to read the article yet, but are people really ok with this? Just seems lame to me.

 

[CoolBreeze]

I haven’t had a chance to read the article yet, but are people really ok with this? Just seems lame to me.

It is a long read but a good one. I don't have any problem with it given that the rules have been made to favor offenses and that continues to be the trend. If you got signs and signals out in the wide open to get plays into the offense then the prudent move by the d is to decipher those signals and have your d ready to defend the field accordingly.

 

[JayBama_in_PCOLA]

Cheats!

 

[crimsonaudio]

or try just having the quarterback call the plays either in the huddle or at the line. if it works keep doing it and if it doesn't then just let me know and i'll shut up.

It appears to be a great solution:
"North Carolina, which nearly beat the Tigers last year in Chapel Hill, implemented a “sugar” huddle (short and sweet) for that game. North Carolina State and Pittsburgh, other ACC teams that either beat Clemson or came close within the last five years, huddled during those games."

 

[Elefantman]

I have no problem with stealing signals. If you can steal the signals, it's up to the other team to make changes to make it more difficult to steal.

 

[bama_fan01]

awbern is among the elite signal stealers in CFB...

Impressive, since they probably can't even spell "signal".

 

[bama_fan01]

When I coached rec baseball, another team from our town kept trying to steal my signals (I coached 3rd base). They never figured out that I was just making motions, and the signals were relayed to the batter by an assistant coach strategically placed in the batter's line of sight as they looked at me. We spent a lot of practice time making them look at me and still be able to see the signal. All in all, it was fun trying to dupe the other team!

 

[KrAzY3]

It really makes one wonder about the 2017 game. New play caller, Alabama has issues just getting the calls in much less doing anything to avoid sign stealing. Alabama ends up 2-15 on third downs.

 

[Relayer]

If a team is using a bunch of coded signals, and they don't think other teams are trying to figure them out, then they are sure naive.

I don't have a problem with it. A good offense would have ways to turn it to their advantage.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

I get that the issue with coding signals is that you run the risk of confusing your own team as much as you do the opposition. But surely there's some way to code the signals in such a way that it doesn't do that.

I also love low-tech solutions to high-tech problems -- putting masking tape over the computer camera to mitigate hijacking, a fighter jet putting out shredded tin foil (aka chaff) to throw off missiles, etc.

So, even though it cuts down on the number of plays you can run, maybe huddling is the answer. Or fight fire with fire and either (1) steal their signals, or (2)mfigure out how they're coding them so that they're harder to steal.

 

[Rolltide51]

I have no problem with stealing signals. If you can steal the signals, it's up to the other team to make changes to make it more difficult to steal.

agreed...back in the day (1964-1967) we got plays in by substitutes or occasionally the qb called the play. we had a term back then called 'bird dogging'. we were coached to look for tendencies of the players on the other team... was the qb or running back or offensive linemen tipping the play with their eyes/ body lean, stance etc. we used this to out advantage because a lot of people do things differently on each play and some of those things tip of pass or run etc. in one game the guy playing opposite of me (a lineman) put his knuckles in the ground when it was a running play and extended fingers in the ground when it was a pass. now this is not stealing signals technically ( started to say 'per se' but didn't know if it fit) i do believe in good sportsmanship and fair play so i told the guy about after the game and he thanked me.
for some reason, i feel like a cheap football slut for not telling him during the game... i feel cheap and dirty and need a shower but since it is friday night and my bath day is saturday, i will wait.
also, we were coached to NOT bird dog.