Kirby Smart Shares Thoughts on Michigan Sign Stealing

In his latest press conference, Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart addressed the recent sign stealing accusations being levied against Michigan.

Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart met again with the media again on Tuesday to preview Georgia's latest matchup with rival Florida in Jacksonville on Saturday. With the Michigan sign stealing scandal taking center stage in the college football world this week, Smart was asked for his comments on the controversy. 

In terms of the general practice of sign stealing, Smart admitted that a certain level of sign stealing has long been a part of football at all levels, but also indicated that he had never heard of anyone going to the drastic lengths that Michigan is being accused of.

"I never heard of anybody going to games and filming, all that stuff. I've never known anyone to do that," Smart said. "When I grew up with my dad, you went and watched other high schools play and drew up their plays while they were doing it. That was pre-cell phones and probably pre-signals because guys sent plays in. As far as in-game, I think guys try to steal signs."

Smart also questioned the usefulness and practical applicability of sign stealing at the college level. 

"As a defensive play caller, I think it would confuse me to have someone telling me what they think is coming," Smart said. "There's times people have said they've had our signals in game. Sometimes teams you've already played share what they had on you. A lot of times you can know signals and still not do it right."

Given that Georgia faced Michigan in the 2021 College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl, a game that Georgia won in dominant fashion 34-11, Smart is reasonably well-positioned to offer relevant anecdotes on Michigan's practices. Smart, however, shot down any notion that Michigan attempted to go beyond normal in-game sign stealing against the Bulldogs.

"I didn't notice anything fishy about Michigan when we played them," Smart stated. "I think there's paranoia out there everywhere. I think what people are talking about there is different than your normal sign stealing. We do our best to protect our signals."

With Georgia and Michigan both still undefeated and ranked No.1 and No.2 respectively in the latest AP poll, the possibility that the two will once again meet in the College Football Playoff later in the season certainly exists. With that possibility out there combined with the newfound awareness of beyond-the-pale sign stealing practices, Georgia will assuredly take steps to protect their signals both moving forward.

Other Georgia News:

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• Player Profile: How Can Oscar Delp Contribute to Georgia's Success?
• Reminder of What Georgia Has With Delp, Luckie, and Spurlin

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