TCU Turned Michigan’s Sign-Stealing Habit Against Them in College Football Playoff, per Report

The Horned Frogs coaches learned about the Wolverines’ habit before the game.

TCU apparently knew about Michigan’s sign-stealing habit ahead of their College Football Playoff matchup last New Year’s Eve, according to a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

In order to mess with the Wolverines, the Horned Frogs changed their signs before kickoff. The coaches also used “dummy signals,” which were old plays that no longer ran with that signal. TCU players had to ignore these signals.

“Sometimes we froze a play before the snap,” a TCU coach told Dellenger. “We’d call a play and then we’d signal in another play with an old signal but we told players to run the original play.”

TCU ended up winning the playoff game 51–45 to advance to the championship game, which they eventually lost to Georgia.

According to the report, TCU coaches were alerted to Michigan's sign-stealing prowess shortly after their matchup against the Wolverines in the College Football Playoff was announced.

“Literally everybody we talked to knew,” one unnamed TCU coach told Dellenger. “They’d say, ‘Just so you know, they steal your signals and they’re going to have everything so you better change them.’”

The NCAA opened the investigation regarding Michigan’s sign stealing earlier this month, and it now has escalated to the point where it began interviewing Wolverines coaches Thursday.

Up to this point, the investigation has centered around low-level staffer Connor Stalions, whom the program suspended a day after the investigation became public. Stalions allegedly purchased tickets to scout Michigan’s future opponents in person to determine their coaches’ signals, an action that is illegal in college football.