Eli Drinkwitz weighs in on sign-stealing, takes shot at Michigan

During an interview on the “GoJo and Golic” show on Friday, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz couldn’t resist slipping in a one-liner about Michigan and the ongoing sign-stealing scandal as the Tigers head coach discussed the topic du jour.

Drinkwitz was asked plainly if he thought the coaches would prefer to put one-way radio receivers in the helmets of quarterbacks and defensive signal callers. He said yes, then took his shot.

“Yeah, I think everybody but Michigan probably would want to,” Drinkwitz said, generating some hearty laughs from the father-son host duo of Mike Golic Sr. and Mike Golic Jr.

"I think the playoffs were worth $1B, but we can't afford wireless headsets. It's mindblowing to me." – Eli Drinkwitz

"You think most coaches would like to go with receivers in helmets of the QBs to signal caller?" @golic

"Yeah, I think everybody but Michigan would want to" 😂 pic.twitter.com/MK09PUAVzC

— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic) October 27, 2023

Drinkwitz also made an overall point about the lack of technology in college football to communicate plays.

“I think the playoff’s worth a billion dollars, but we can’t afford to put wireless headsets. It’s mind blowing to me on some of this stuff,” Drinkwitz said.

Drinkwitz also dove into how, as a coach, he’d address playing against a team that might know his signals. He used the example of Ohio State vs. Clemson in the College Football Playoff from years back when Ryan Day employed huddles to prevent the Tigers sign-stealing operation — one that was apparently well within the rules — from working.

“You have to sugar huddle. I think you saw that in the College Football Playoff a couple years. I thought Ryan Day did an excellent job to protect his stuff by quick huddling, sugar huddling and getting out of formations. And that’s really what you’ve got to do once you notice that stuff’s going on,” Drinkwitz said.

And the Missouri head coach also shared that he’s somewhat disappointed in the broader apparatus of college football for not keeping pace with where the game has gone.

“I think the saddest thing about the whole thing is, since I’ve been a head coach in 2019, in head coaches meetings we’ve asked for communication like the NFL and for whatever reason it’s always been pushed back, we can’t do it, we can’t afford it — and we’ve let the game get away,” Drinkwitz said.

The Big Ten is unlikely to punish Michigan

It’s something college football insider Bruce Feldman doesn’t see happening. He was on “The Rich Eisen Show” on Thursday with guest host Suzy Shuster, who asked whether the Big Ten would deliver a punishment or would the NCAA.

“I would be surprised if it was Big Ten,” Feldman said. “Because from from what I’d heard, I don’t know how much the Big Ten has…Whereas the NCAA may be out in front of this a little more. I just would be surprised if the Big Ten was going to shut down a flagship program like that.”

Shuster committed that it would make sense for the Big Ten to not get involved since the Wolverines make the College Football Playoff, and winning it all would be good for its brand.

Feldman agreed, saying the conference would like to see Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

“They do,” Feldman said. “It benefits them. It benefits their brand. It just adds so much. I get it. They’re gonna get a lot of pushback from some of the schools in their conference.”