College Football

Penn State coach James Franklin questions if radio helmets will solve sign stealing

Published Jul. 25, 2024 8:29 p.m. ET

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti opened this week's three-day preseason kickoff festivities in Indianapolis by acknowledging he's still waiting for the NCAA to make a decision on the sign-stealing scandal involving Michigan.

The Wolverines, of course, didn't talk about it Thursday.

Still, Penn State coach James Franklin believes the backlash has had an impact on college football. He made it abundantly clear he believes the newly approved radio communication between coaches and players is a direct result of what the Wolverines were accused of.

"I think the whole, the whole reason this got changed is the sign-stealing deal," Franklin said. "And it doesn't really help. I think a lot of people that passed the rule think it did. But if you're running a no-huddle offense and can talk to the quarterback, how do you get the information to the wideouts that are 53 yards apart from each other? You're still going to have to signal to them. So there may be more people huddling that didn't than in the past."

Netflix announced earlier this week that the fourth season of its series "Untold" will include "Sign Stealer." It premieres Aug. 27 and will feature Connor Stalions, the man accused of stealing signals, who will break his silence about what happened.

But after Petitti's opening remarks, there was little discussion about the controversy — until Franklin was asked how the new communication system would impact college football. Franklin, one of the more outspoken critics last season, was up front.

"It doesn't really resolve that," Franklin said. "I think it's a good rule change. I'm glad it happened. But I think the whole reason the rule got changed is because of the sign-stealing discussion and I don't really feel that resolves it whatsoever."

Change of plans

Dillon Gabriel thought he would jump to the NFL after last season, but when Oregon offered him a chance to stay in school and play in a fast, high-scoring offense that could improve his draft stock, he changed his mind.

Gabriel heads into this season as potentially the conference's best quarterback and perhaps the league's top Heisman Trophy contender.

Gabriel completed 69.3% of his passes for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns last season, throwing only six interceptions in his second season at Oklahoma. He also had 12 TD runs.

Now, he seems content to be the next in a long line of strong Oregon quarterbacks.

"I think I'm right where I need to be," he said.

"When I made the decision to leave, coach (Dan) Lanning called and coach (Will) Stein called and there was an immediate alignment with one another," Gabriel said. "The offensive fit, the returning pieces and also the pieces coming in, it wasn't a matter of if, it was just how we're going to get it done."

Gabriel will wear the same No. 8 jersey as another quarterback from Hawaii who played for the Ducks, 2014 Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.

"I just loved how he played it, what he represents on and off the field," Gabriel said. "I think that's a guy anyone would want to get behind. Just the type of person he is, how he represents Hawaii, as a young Hawaii athlete watching him go do his thing, it's special."

Tough love

First-year Indiana coach Curt Cignetti admitted there was a time when his late father, College Football Hall of Fame coach Frank Cignetti Sr., was the son's "biggest critic." But Cignetti expressed gratitude to the former West Virginia coach, who died in 2022.

Cignetti called his father the "greatest man I've ever known" and described him as a direct, honest man with a good heart and a great work ethic. He also said his late father was his biggest critic and he was shy about telling his dad he was taking a significant pay cut to leave Nick Saban's staff at Alabama for his first head-coaching job, at Indiana University-Pennsylvania — the school where his father coached.

But it was Curt Cignetti who once made an even tougher choice.

"I threw him off the field one year because he was being too critical," Cignetti said. "But (he was) very complimentary of the way we played at the end when I was at James Madison."

Fond memory

Oregon coach Dan Lanning made a sentimental return to Lucas Oil Stadium, where as a Georgia assistant he celebrated the Bulldogs winning the first of their back-to-back national championships over Alabama three seasons ago.

"It's certainly great to be back here in Indianapolis," Lanning said. "The last time I was in this stadium, I got to enjoy a national championship with some of my former players at Georgia. It's refreshing to be here 2 1/2 years from that moment."

Lanning is hopeful he will be back at this venue on Dec. 7 for the Big Ten championship game. The Ducks are playing their first season in the Big Ten this year, and he appreciated being welcomed by the floating Ducks mascot that appeared Tuesday in Indy's White River.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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