Matt Rhule on Michigan sign-stealing scandal: ‘You feel really bad for players on both sides’

Nebraska suffered its worst loss of the season in late September, falling 45-7 to Michigan in what was a low point in Year 1 under Matt Rhule.

A few weeks after that game, word broke that the NCAA was investigating Michigan for sign-stealing and in-person scouting violations.

The Wolverines allegedly had an elaborate sign-stealing scheme that had been going on for years. Rhule joined On3’s Andy Staples recently and was asked for his reaction to the Michigan sign-stealing allegations and if he went back and took a closer look at this year’s game between the Wolverines and Nebraska.

“I think you sit there and just feel really bad for the players on both sides, because this is really our last chance to teach young people how to go out there and compete and overcome adversity and go through ups and down and highs and lows,” Matt Rhule said. “And you just hope when you do this that no side ever has an advantage over the other that’s not gained and earned appropriately.”

Rhule added that, “I can’t comment on the specifics of this [Michigan case], because I don’t know.”

Still, he made it clear that he sees it as a big problem if Michigan did what it has been accused of doing.

For the past few years, Michigan staff member Connor Stalions and the Wolverines allegedly sent people to games of upcoming opponents to videotape signals on the sideline. Stalions would then use the videos to decode the signals so that Michigan would know what plays were coming.

“As we tell parents, ‘We’re going to teach them how to be young men.’ I think the first thing we teach them is integrity and honesty.  But if I ever feel like my guys have been shorted, obviously I’m here to fight for them,” Rhule said. “That would certainly be heartbreaking and disappointing to me, as someone who loves college football. It’s one thing when it’s recruiting, but when we mess with the 60 minutes of the game, that’s really, really, really impacted.”

Matt Rhule added that it’s not safe, either, if an opponent knows what play is coming.

“I’ll tell you this, players go out there and they get hurt, and if I ever knew what plays you were running and my guys were running to the ball before the snap, I don’t know that that’s fair to the health and safety of our players or anything,” Rhule said. “So I certainly hope it’s not what everyone says it is. But I don’t know, so I can’t comment on that specifically.”