Alabama’s College Football Playoff semifinal opponent has had a contentious season. Michigan was embroiled in a scandal involving a former assistant, Connor Stalions, who allegedly arranged an elaborate plan to videotape prospective Wolverine opponents’ sidelines in order to steal their signs.
Due to the incident, UM head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the final three games of the regular season. Nick Saban was questioned about sign-stealing and what he is trying to avoid it on Sunday, the day before the teams play off in the Rose Bowl.
“We’re really not concerned about that,” Saban said, with Harbaugh seated to his left. “Integrity in the game I think is really, really important and our team has had every opportunity to prepare for this game just like they have every other game and I think that, especially when you’re a no-huddle team, you’ve got to adapt and adjust how you communicate with the quarterback.”
“Hopefully one day we’ll get to the NFL system where you can just talk to the guy in his helmet,” Saban said. “I think that would be a lot better. But for now, we just have to adapt to how we communicate with the quarterback and we change it up and try to not put our players at a disadvantage in any way.”
