[jwplayer kJc3hio4]
When you hear about signal stealing in sports you probably first think of baseball. It used to be as simple as a runner on second signaling to a batter what pitch is coming or where a catcher is setting up but in recent years the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox have gone well beyond that.
It happens in football as well whether we like to admit it or not and Brian Kelly on Thursday addressed what has to be done to prevent No. 1 Clemson from being able to pull that off against Notre Dame’s offense on Saturday.
“We’ve lived it, we’re prepared for it” Kelly said, “we’ve got to do a great job that we don’t tip anything off.”
Before some of you get all caught up in this and turn it into the next great sports controversy know that it’s happened for as long as signals have been used on a football field.
Brian Kelly asked about Clemson’s defense stealing offensive signals.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 5, 2020
“We’ve lived it. We’re prepared for it. … We’ve got to do a great job that we don’t tip anything off."
For instance, when Notre Dame played at Northwestern in 2018 the host Wildcats chose to operate from their non-traditional sideline for fear of having signals stolen from Tommy Rees who had previously worked on the Northwestern coaching staff.
It’s hard to know if Kelly is stating that Notre Dame has already “lived it” in regards to Clemson stealing their offensive signals or if he’s referencing someone else pulling it off.
In regards to it however, just like a pitcher and catcher need to change up their signs and be ahead of potential stealing of them, the same goes for Notre Dame, Clemson or any other offensive or defensive unit at any level of football.