Michigan Football Quarterback Fires Back At Sign-Stealing Talk

Wednesday, Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy met with the media for the first time since the Wolverines’ 27-20 victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Heading into next Monday’s National Title Game, McCarthy had a chance to fire back at the sign-stealing allegations against his team, and he did exactly that.

Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy fires back at sign-stealing allegations

Sign-stealing in college football is not illegal; in fact, The Athletic and others have estimated that 80-90 percent of college football programs do it. This fall, despite what outsiders said about the Maize and Blue, and despite the fact that both Connor Stalions and Jim Harbaugh were taken from the sidelines for much of the year, Michigan football still managed to go 14-0 and win a plethora of huge games.

The moment Roman Wilson tied the game against Alabama. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/R8e121W5LF

— Blue By 90 (@bluebyninety) January 2, 2024

What McCarthy said before the National Title Game

From downing Ohio State to winning the Big Ten Championship to knocking off Alabama in the CFP, it’s been an amazing year for the Wolverines — not because of the sign-stealing, but because Michigan football has simply been better than everyone else thus far.

“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 percent of the teams in college football steal signs,” Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy said on Wednesday. “It’s just a thing about football. It’s been around for years.”

McCarthy later clarified that he was talking about masking Michigan’s signals, not what Connor Stalions is accused of.

Others also practice sign-stealing

Think Michigan is the only school stealing signs? Nope, even Ohio State has done so, McCarthy explained.

“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.”

It’s hard work, not the signs

Michigan football is hard at work watching film, practicing, and more, yet all that the Wolverines’ student-athletes have heard about was the sign-stealing allegations being the reason they were successful. Beating Alabama helped flip that narrative, but JJ McCarthy and others are still seemingly disappointed that the narrative was spun this way.

“I just feel like it sucks … we do work our butts off,” McCarthy said. “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 of the posture, of the linebackers or the D-ends, the safeties off levels, the corner to the field is press but the corner to the boundary is off, little stuff like that where it’s like, 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.”

JJ McCarthy had Michigan fans ALIVE in overtime #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/W2mFl36fQ1

— Blue By 90 (@bluebyninety) January 3, 2024

Michigan football and quarterback JJ McCarthy about to play in program’s first National Title Game

Despite the sign-stealing allegations, Jim Harbaugh being suspended, injuries, and more, Michigan football is 14-0 for the first time in program history, and will play for the national championship against Washington next Monday. Win or lose, this year’s Wolverines are legends, yet a title game victory — the program’s first — would cement the 2023 team as perhaps the greatest in school history.

Michigan was winning before the sign-stealing allegations, and yes, have been winning ever since — including victories over No. 10 Penn State, No. 16 Iowa, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 4 Alabama. Monday, the Wolverines could crush all of the outside narratives once and for all with a victory over the 14-0 Huskies in Houston, TX.

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