dpIt was subtle, but the point was made Saturday when Desmond Howard took a swipe at a comment Nick Saban made on ESPN’s “College GameDay” when talking Alabama-LSU.
Saban, the former Alabama coach, was making a point about his biggest concern for the Crimson Tide when they travel to Baton Rouge to face Lane Kiffin and LSU.
“The thing I’m most concerned about is how does Alabama’s defense play against LSU’s offense,” Saban said Saturday during ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
“I don’t care how they do it. You can talk about stealing signals, talk about how you disguise your defense, but when LSU and Lane Kiffin know what you’re in, they are going to dial up the best play they can run against that look.
“You’re always going to be behind on defense, always going to be one play behind. They take advantage of that as well as anyone in college football.”
Howard, a former Michigan star, simply replied, “Imagine that, people still stealing signals in college football, huh?
“That’s crazy.”
Rece Davis and Pat McAfee laughed. Saban did not.
The reference, of course, was to Michigan’s multi-year NCAA infraction case centering on an unauthorized, off-campus advance-scouting and signal-stealing operation run by former staffer Connor Stalions from 2021 to 2023.
