Jim Schlossnagle accuses SEC school of getting 'busted' for live dugout feed

Since the dawn of baseball, sign-stealing has been a way for teams to get competitive advantages. But with technology, there are perhaps more ways to get a leg up, although the NCAA doesn’t allow for the recording of signs during games.

However, Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle accused an unnamed SEC school of doing just that.

Schlossnagle appeared on TexAgs Radio and discussed the topic of using technology to steal signs and said a team has a live feed of the dugout to decode opposing teams’ signals. He compared it to the way Major League Baseball avoids that situation, but noted how much it costs. But the way MLB does it allows players to have iPads in the dugouts – something that isn’t allowed at the NCAA level.

“Major League Baseball has its own portal system that each team is bought into,” Schlossnagle said. “Each team gets the same exact stuff, but they cannot – there’s a way for them to block a live feed to the dugout. Well, that costs money. It costs a ridiculous amount of money. College baseball doesn’t have that kind of money, even in the SEC.

“So where do you draw the line? I mean, there are ways we could wire our dugout to get the live feed. And there’s a school in our league that got busted – I don’t if people know it yet. I’m not gonna reveal it. But they know, they’ve had a live feed going to the dugout all year. And they’re hitting .306 at home and .206 on the road. I don’t know. So to me, that would be the line. Somehow, the technological line, keeping live information from going directly to the dugout.”

The idea of sign-stealing became a prominent discussion point in football this past season when an investigation opened into Michigan, centered on former analyst Connor Stalions. While helmet technology and iPads had been a topic of conversation before that situation, it’s becoming reality this coming season.

But in baseball, teams can’t have iPads in the dugout, per NCAA rules. While there can be one-way communication between the coach and the catcher in the SEC thanks to a 2018 rule, filming signs – just like in football – is against the rules.

As for the “old school” way of picking up opposing teams’ signals without technology, Jim Schlossnagle said that’s just baseball. But he’s preparing to add some of the legal tech to his in-game plan.

“The stuff you’re talking about, that’s baseball. … That’s why I like to give the signs because part of being a coach is giving the signs and being able to disguise your things and having things to, ‘Oh, yeah, they think they got them? I can do this. Oh, he picked over, he thought I was running. Now, I know,'” Schlossnagle said. “And me, growing up, that’s part of being a coach. But I’m gonna probably get off of it next year.

“We’re gonna go to PitchCom on offense. … Why wouldn’t you? It’s just stupidity or being stubborn on my part. It’s too expensive right now for us to do it on offense and defense, even at A&M. But next year, we’re gonna go to that to just try to limit the ways they can steal them.”