Nick Saban discusses sign stealing and hiding plays from former Alabama assistant Josh Gattis

With the emergence of signaling plays from the sideline in college football (complete with emoji cards, cartoons, hand signals and any number of other things), sign stealing has also gotten more common.

As Alabama prepares for Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl against Michigan, Nick Saban is certainly aware of that. In fact, he’ll see a familiar face — former Alabama assistant and current Michigan OC Josh Gattis — on the other sideline.

However, Saban isn’t worried about Gattis being able to help the Wolverines crack Alabama’s signals on either side of the ball:

Nick Saban says on his radio show that sign-stealing is “more and more prevalent in college football” beacuse of no-huddle offenses. He added that other teams would film and try to figure out his signals when he was the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator in the early 90s.

— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) December 30, 2019

Saban said the signs on the sideline aren’t the plays but the formation so he isn’t worried about Josh Gattis stealing the signals. The 3 guys doing hand signs are signaling the plays and 2 are decoys.

— Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) December 30, 2019

Saban and his staff will need to be on top of their game to beat the Wolverines behind backup QB Mac Jones.

However, it’s safe to say the Alabama coach isn’t worried about the other side getting his calls.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.