“I don’t know if you want to live in rumorville or speculation, but we just don’t really have any room to be doing that at this point,” he said. “That’s done elsewhere.”
The NCAA does not directly ban the stealing of signs, but there are rules against using electronic equipment to record an opponent’s signals and in-person, advanced scouting of future opponents in season. There are also rules against unsportsmanlike or unethical activities by coaches, and head coaches are generally considered to be responsible for violations that occur under them.
The Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for the final three regular-season games for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy. Harbaugh has denied having knowledge of sign-stealing activities. Michigan suspended Harbaugh for the first three games of the season amid allegations of recruiting violations.
McCarthy estimated 80% of college football teams steal signs.
“It’s just a thing about football,” he said. “It’s been around for years. We actually had to adapt because in 2020 or 2019 when Ohio State was stealing our signs — which is legal and they were doing it — we had to get up to the level that they were at, and we had to make it an even playing field.”
McCarthy later clarified that comment to The Associated Press.
“When I said we need to level the playing field, I meant in terms of how we change our own signs, how we develop our signs and how and when we distribute those changes when we know signs are likely to have been stolen,” he said.
McCarthy and defensive lineman Mason Graham said they and their teammates put in significant time operating inside the rules to find clues about how opponents might react in different situations.
“We do watch so much film and look for those little tendencies and spend like 10, 15 minutes on one clip alone just looking at all the little details,” McCarthy said, referring to the posture of linebackers or defensive linemen and differences in where cornerbacks and safeties are lined up. “You could say it’s all sign stealing, but there’s a lot more that goes into play, and a lot of stuff that gets masked, a lot of work that gets masked just because of the outside perception of what sign stealing is all about.”