During his press conference this week, Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin had a rather bold accusation about the Oklahoma Sooners defense as he not-so-subtly implied that he thinks the team steals signals from their opponents. However, head coach Brent Venables seems to be pushing back a little bit.
When asked about the upcoming game against the No. 13 Sooners, Kiffin brought up Oklahoma’s ability to study and know the other team’s signals, saying “it looks like they have the plays.”
“One, it’s phenomenal prep — a film study of signals,” Kiffin said during his Monday press conference via On3. “They do a great job of that. If you study people really well, you have enough confidence as a coach to go after those. That seems what he does and they’ve got a really good beat on the plays that are coming when they’re called and they do a great job of going and taking those away. Look at the Auburn game. I told Hugh [Freeze] after the game, watching it, he might want to switch his signals. Like, it looks like they have the plays. The middle safety’s running down to steal slants, which is very abnormal.”
Obviously, this is a pretty significant accusation, especially after the high-profile Michigan sign-stealing scandal back in 2023 – though it’s worth noting that Kiffin is not claiming that Oklahoma has broken any rules.
During his radio show on Monday, Venables broke his silence on this accusation.
“I guess coming from Lane I take it as a compliment?” Venables said on his radio show via On3. “Like, he must have watched our guys be really prepared. Cause that’s who they are, man. They’re relentless. Their detail, the time they spend above and beyond what’s required, that’s the proof of how we’re playing right now. That D-line, how they’re able to dominate physically.”
Venables did offer a bit of a denial, too, pointing out that it is now very difficult to steal signs in college football since now that college football allows in-helmet communication. That’s especially true when facing teams that typically call their plays in the huddle.
“Honestly, I don’t know of a team that hasn’t huddled. I think every single team we’ve played the last two years has huddled,” Venables said. “And so between that and the helmet communication, I don’t know how that works, but we got enough to worry about just getting our guys lined up with the right call and things of that nature. But I guess I’ll take that as kind of a weird kind of compliment. Our guys must’ve looked pretty good on film.”
This should add some new drama to the game this week.
About Dave Kelsey
Bets on sports stuff.