Ryan Grubb warns Brent Venables not to study Alabama signs, promises to change them vs. Oklahoma

In October, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said Oklahoma does an excellent job of preparing for opposing team’s signals. With a matchup against Oklahoma this weekend, Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb seemingly echoed Kiffin’s comments Monday.

“We’ll be changing everything, so if Coach Venables is listening, just know that they’re all changing,” Grubb said, per the Sidelines Sports Network. “Everything that they do is within the parameters of the game. They’re good at what they do.”

While both Kiffin and Grubb emphasized Oklahoma’s scouting schemes are legal, neither shied away from calling out the Sooners’ ability to prepare for other teams’ signs. After all, the Sooners are only allowing 264.2 yards of offense per game this season, the seventh-least in the country.

The college football world is still paranoid about sign-stealing after Michigan was exposed for illegally scouting teams in 2023. While Michigan broke the NCAA’s rules in its efforts to gain an advantage over its opponents, there are legal ways to scout an opponent’s signs.

If an opponent’s signs are visible within the normal broadcast of a game, a team is free to scout them and use them to their advantage. However, a team cannot send staff members during the season to scout an opponent in-person, nor are they allowed to have an individual outside their program record an unnatural angle of their opponent’s sideline.

As of now, there’s no evidence that suggests Oklahoma has broken these rules. In fact, when Kiffin pointed out Oklahoma’s ability to scout opponents’ signs in October, Sooners head coach Brent Venables took pride in the comment.

“Oh, man,” Venables said on his weekly coach’s show. “I guess coming from Lane, I take it as a compliment? … Like, he must’ve watch our guys be really prepared, you know, because that’s who they are, man, they’re relentless, their preparation, their detail, the time they spend above and beyond what’s required. That’s the proof in how we’re playing right now.”

Alabama’s offense won’t be easy to stop on Saturday. With quarterback Ty Simpson running the show, Alabama averages 403.1 yards of offense per game. Ole Miss is the only team this season that has recorded 400 or more yards of offense against Oklahoma.

Ryan Grubb and Co. will undoubtedly be doing their own scouting to learn how the Rebels found so much success against the Sooners’ stifling defense. Alabama and Oklahoma will square off at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. The game will air live on ABC.