Washington State’s Mike Leach calls for investigation into Arizona State stealing signs

With Mike Leach joining the chorus of coaches talking about signal stealing, are there nefarious schemes being carried out at Arizona State?

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While discussing his upcoming game against the Arizona State Sun Devils, Washington State head coach Mike Leach said that there should be an “investigation” into the alleged signal stealing going on in Sun Devil country.

This entire saga started two weeks ago, when the Utah Utes players said that Arizona State had picked up on their signals both in 2015’s Utah victory and in the 2014 loss. It was Utah center Siaosi Aiono who told the Salt Lake Tribune:

“They called out a couple of our plays last year,” Aiono said. “So it was like a tool in our tool bag to have just in case we had to pull it out, and it worked out for us.”

The tool he was referring to was a huddle in which Utah quarterback Travis Wilson would run over to the sideline to get the next play call. The Utes started this counter-intelligence method in the fourth quarter and would outscore the Sun Devils 20-0 in that frame.

The next week, Oregon would use giant white sheets to protect the integrity of their signals and offensive coordinator Scott Frost told the Oregonian, “From the intel we got, I’ve never heard of a team going to the lengths they go to to try and get the signals.”

Arizona State defensive staffers were looking to get only the most basic stuff, including whether the play called was a run or a pass, according to the Ducks. All the speculation and allegations led to Mike Leach declaring that an investigation was needed, according to the Seattle Times, “They probably ought to do an investigation on them. You’ve got two-straight schools with a concern for it back-to-back. The conference probably ought to investigate it,” Leach said.

Head coach Todd Graham, when learning of Leach’s call for an investigation, had this to say:

“I don’t understand all that, we’re definitely going by the rules and there’s not anything illegal in looking at somebody’s signals or groupings,” Graham said, via arizonasports.com. “I don’t really care what anybody else says, I’m concerned about our program. If I had a questions about somebody else, I’d pick up the phone and call them.

I can tell you we do things by the book and by the rules. So investigate all you want.”

Graham clearly believes that his program is doing nothing illegal or unethical, and was adamant that no rules are being broken.

The entire topic has become a hit on twitter, where former Sun Devil quarterback and outspoken twitter aficionado Rudy Carpenter had this to say: “Signal Stealing??? Who cares, if u don’t want your signals picked then get in the damn huddle like a normal team. Stop with the news stories…Gimmick football is terrible, u can play with plenty of Tempo while getting in the huddle. Stop with the Mickey Mouse Offense”

The interesting thing is that Carpenter is correct. The signal stealing would be less relevant if teams in the Pac-12 ran more pro-style offenses. It is the no-huddle offenses like the Ducks and Utes run that make signal stealing possible. No one gets accused of stealing the Stanford Cardinal’s offensive signals.

If you are going to run a simplified offense with only basic signals being relayed in from the sideline, then be prepared for enterprising teams like the Sun Devils to pick up on what is going on. Those fast tempo, “gimmick” offenses are all the rage in college football, and it was only a matter of time until their opponents found a weakness that can be exploited.

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The most interesting part of this scandal is that the Sun Devils’ themselves run a fast paced offense, and thus would be subjected to signal stealing of their own. As for an investigation? So far the Pac-12 has said that no formal complaint has been filed and no investigation is under way, according to AZCentral.com.

And the big white sheets Oregon held up, Scott Frost says that team will use them again, if necessary:

“If we think we need those sheets, we’ll use them,” Frost told reporters. “(But) I don’t think everybody is like the team we just played.”

This Pac-12 season continues to entertain both on and off the field, with signal stealing, sheets protecting play calling, botched touchdown calls, wild upsets, and rampant speculation about the open USC job. This ASU controversy just adds to the wackiness.