Penn State’s James Franklin stays mum about Jim Harbaugh, Michigan sign-stealing scandal

Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal has become the talk of the college football season. But ahead of Penn State’s game against the Wolverines, coach James Franklin decided not to wade into those waters.

Franklin was asked at his Monday press conference if Michigan’s sign-stealing allegations affects how he and his coaching staff are preparing and planning for the Wolverines.

“I know these questions are going to come this week. I’m gonna focus on the things that we can control,” Franklin said. “We always have to have a plan. I think I’ve already kind of covered this and talked about this in terms of what we do and how we communicate to our players and how we communicate to our team during games. But I’m going to leave it at that because less is more.”

Franklin was later asked about Jim Harbaugh and the spotlight he finds himself in ahead of Saturday’s game. It has been speculated that Harbaugh might be suspended amid the sign-stealing scandal.

“I’m focused on all the stuff we see on film, their players and their scheme,” Franklin said.

Last month, the Big Ten confirmed that the NCAA was investigating allegations that Michigan sent people to attend games of opponents and videotape coaches as they signaled in plays. While stealing signs is not illegal, what the Wolverines allegedly did is in violation of NCAA rules.

Harbaugh has denied any knowledge of or involvement in a sign-stealing scheme. He added in a statement last month that he and his staff will “fully cooperate” with the NCAA investigation.

Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions has become a household name throughout all this. Stalions was suspended and later resigned after ESPN reported that he was suspected of overseeing the alleged sign-stealing operation.

ESPN also reported that Stalions hired a former Division III coach to attend and record signals at Penn State’s Oct. 14 game against UMass at Beaver Stadium.

When the Michigan sign-stealing story took off last month, Franklin was asked if that would change how Penn State operated. He said the following on Oct. 24:

“Well, first of all, I think you do that in general, right? You do that in general. You’ve got to have a way to disguise your signals. Everybody does it, whether they do it with sheets or boards or whatever it may be.

“We made some changes after the bye week in how we operate on offense and defense. Specific to that, I probably won’t get into what’s going on at that other school and the things that are going on. I probably won’t get into that. But I think in general, we’re always aware of how we signal. Are we disguising it?

“What happens is you get to after games, and you feel like you called a very unpredictable call in a certain situation, and they’re in the perfect defense for it. You are sitting there saying, well, how is that? What would ever make you play Cover Two on fourth-and-1, and we’re in the heavy personnel group? But they’re in it, and you have a shot called there.

“Those things kind of make you second guess, and you kind of go back and look at those things and what you need to do to disguise it. If it happens once, that’s one thing, but if it happens over and over, then you’re aware of it. For us that’s something that we always are looking at. But obviously with some of the things that are going on right now, it magnifies it.”