Michigan football found itself under scrutiny yet again on Wednesday when quarterback J.J. McCarthy responded to a question in a national championship game teleconference about how the sign-stealing allegations have taken away from the players’ accomplishments.
“Yeah, and I also feel like it’s so unfortunate because there’s probably — I don’t want to say a crazy number, but I’d say a good number, 80% of the teams in college football steal signs. It’s just a thing about football. It’s been around for years,” McCarthy said. “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.”
Some rival fans and sites ran with their own interpretation, indicating they believed he was confirming the worst of the allegations, that Michigan had to cheat to level the playing field and everyone was in on it.
Only, it turns out that’s not what he meant at all.
ESPN’s Marty Smith spoke to McCarthy later in the day and the Michigan quarterback clarified, no, it was about concealing their own signals, not stealing other teams’ that he was referring to.
After Michigan practice Wednesday, JJ McCarthy walked into the Schembechler facility lobby to chat with me personally, to clarify his sign-stealing comments from earlier in the day. He told me “it’s about leveling the playing field,” and how Michigan is “forced to disguise and…
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) January 4, 2024
After Michigan practice Wednesday, JJ McCarthy walked into the Schembechler facility lobby to chat with me personally, to clarify his sign-stealing comments from earlier in the day. He told me “it’s about leveling the playing field,” and how Michigan is “forced to disguise and camouflage our signs…” (which he said the team has needed to do during his three years at Michigan), “…not upping our opportunity to win by stealing (other teams’) signs, but by protecting our own.”
I asked him if this is a distraction just ahead of the biggest game of their lives. He said it doesn’t bother him at all, but he does want to ensure it’s not a distraction to the team.
Much like the Catapult and iPad controversy that surfaced last week, when Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond said the Tide stopped using their individual film cloud, many assumed it was a direct correlation to the Wolverines. Only it turned out Michigan was revealed to be a target of another team, not the perpetrator.