College Football Rife With Spies

By Jesse Andrews,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 11, 2007 10:16 PM CDT
College Football Rife With Spies
Notre Dame takes on UCLA. The Bruins, who next play California at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 20, are taking special precautions to keep their playbook under wraps.   ((c) maveric2003)

While spying has only recently caused a scandal in the NFL, the practice is age-old in college football, reports the Los Angeles Times. The nation's big programs have put in place costly security systems designed to thwart intelligence gatherers, who come disguised as painters, priests, pro football scouts, and in countless other forms of camouflage.

Many close their practices completely to the public; these days friendly bloggers could unknowingly give descriptions of secret formations. "You could see where coaches get paranoid," said former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, who himself was accused of "skunking" against Texas in the 1970s, as college football espionage is known. (More NCAA stories.)

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