Bobby Petrino namedrops Clemson in talking Michigan: 'They were going to have your signals'
Bobby Petrino was named Arkansas' offensive coordinator less than a week ago, but he seems nothing if not motivated to keep things interesting.
Less than 24 hours after Petrino made headlines for talking about Jimbo Fisher's complicated offensive schemes, he invoked Clemson during its most dominant era when discussing the Michigan sign-stealing scandal and putting radios in helmets.
“I don’t know anything about, you know, Michigan and what they did or any of that. I honestly didn’t pay any attention to it,” Petrino said Thursday. “But I do know when you went and played Clemson, that they were going to have your signals.”
Petrino, who played Clemson annually when he coached Louisville from 2014-18, isn't the first coach to talk about Clemson's preparedness during that span. Ohio State coach Ryan Day, whose name came up in various ways through reporting during the Michigan investigation, sniped at then-defensive coordinator (and now Oklahoma head coach) Brent Venables in 2020.
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“Seems to always know exactly what the other team is doing in terms of the plays that they’re running, each play,” Day said of Venables leading up to the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. “Seems to call the right defense into that play a lot. Why that is, I don’t really know. But I can tell you he’s been doing it for a really long time.”
Ed Orgeron and LSU made similar statements about Venables that came to light after the scandal erupted.
Petrino also alluded to Clemson having Connor Stalions-esque staffers who had offensive signals and were relaying them.
“They had guys on the sidelines standing there with a sheet of paper with your signals on it. And that was tough," he said.
Petrino's Cardinals went 0-5 against those Clemson teams, until he was fired in 2018.
Venables, for his part, talked about sign stealing in October.
"I think you'd be naive or negligent if you're always not aware (of it)," Venables said. "Whether it's year to year or week to week ... always on both sides of the ball always changing signals."
Neither Petrino nor Day have explicitly said they believed Clemson was doing anything illegal, although the allusion to sign-stealing was fairly thick. Petrino, for his part, proposed a solution we will see implemented on a trial basis in non-College Football Playoff bowl games: Helmet communications.
“I think that they should’ve done that a long time ago, you know,” Petrino said. “The SEC and the ACC have talked for years about putting the piece in the ear. And one of the issues that you always have in the NCAA is everybody has a vote. So there’s a lot of schools that play football that can out-vote the major conferences that don’t have the money for that technology to be in their helmets. So that’s why they’ve got to do something about it.”
Petrino would undoubtedly like to see it as he takes over as Arkansas' offensive coordinator. The coach, who was part of Fisher's 2023 Texas A&M staff, is looking to make a positive impact at an SEC program. As Sam Pittman looks to turn Arkansas around, Petrino hopes to be part of that process. In the meantime, the talk of sign-stealing and its impact on the sport will continue into the offseason.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bobby Petrino mentions Clemson while talking Michigan sign-stealing
