PASADENA, Calif. — When it comes to storylines, this season’s College Football Playoff semifinal at Rose bowl there is no shortage of them.
Nick Saban is the best coach at this level, and he may have done the best coaching job of his career. Jim Harbaugh tried to get that monkey off his back and make sure all the nonsense and distractions this year around the program weren’t for nothing.
There is Michiganthe most winning college football all-time program (1,002 wins) against the one who follows closely behind them Alabama (965). The No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed that no one wanted to face. And star quarterbacks on both sides surrounded by a host of futures NFL draft pick.
The grandfather of them all, indeed.
Yet for nearly everyone involved in the buildup to Monday’s action on college football’s most hallowed field, something else filtered through. While the mind may race about the potential possibilities for shenanigans given everything we’ve seen from Ann Arbor and Tuscaloosa in 2023 — not to mention the general insane spectacle that the college football postseason brings each December — few could have put a marker on their Rose Bowl bingo card about an Australian sports tech company occupying a prominent role as THE main topic of discussion.
That company, Catapult, is headquartered in Melbourne but is a seasoned operator behind the scenes of college football. While some fans may be vaguely familiar with the brand for its player-tracking capabilities (often thought of as a bra under a player’s shoulder pads that houses a small GPS chip), programs are more familiar with it for its video technology, which has become ubiquitous for everything from watching game film to training cuts.
Despite the seemingly innocuous nature of what Catapult is doing, it was at the forefront of almost every question leading up to the Rose Bowl. The genesis of the story came On Thursday, when Alabama playersinitially revealed by the receiver Isaiah Bondconfirmed that they were no longer able to watch movies on their individual iPads as is normally the case.
“It’s not a concern of mine. Our players have had every opportunity to prepare for this game like they would for any other game,” Saban said Saturday, his eyes rolling back in his head. “It’s not an issue that concerns me, or concerns our players, or that deserves to be discussed here 48 hours before the game.”
MINI-MOVIE: Michigan vs. Everyone in 2023
Almost immediately, the natural assumption was that this was somehow a reaction or connection to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal that made headlines when the allegations first came to light in October.
However, Michigan players and coaches later confirmed that they too were avoiding watching movies on their iPads after being alerted to a potential problem several weeks before the end of the regular season.
“There have been rumors about the cloud and the Catapult system. I think our team is just taking precautions,” Harbaugh said. “People have started talking about it. We know very little about it and how it works.”
“I don’t think our university has anything to do with this. Please know that I’m not accusing anyone of anything. I really don’t know.”
When asked what the source of these rumors was and why they were so credible, neither the Tide nor the Wolverines provided much clarity or transparency.
“We all heard it in early November,” UM offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore said. “We kind of stopped our players from using their iPads, just addressed the process and how we have to prepare and just watched more film in the building.”
In a statement to FOX SportsCatapult responded to both parties’ comments and denied any potential issues with how the movies are stored or accessed.
“We are aware of the ongoing investigation into alleged unauthorized access to NCAA football video footage,” a company spokesperson wrote. “We have conducted an internal investigation and have found no security breaches in our systems. We have shared this information with local authorities who are investigating. We will continue to support the ongoing investigation with the NCAA and local authorities. At Catapult, we hold ourselves to the highest standards and protecting customer information is of the utmost importance to us.”
The company declined to identify the specific local authority investigating the case. But in many ways, the fact that one can easily identify at least three separate investigations into the Big Ten champions that may be at the heart of the case speaks to the unease surrounding this Rose Bowl game.
Analyzing Michigan and Alabama’s strengths
Along with the NCAA’s ongoing investigation into whether the Stalions violated in-person scouting rules while they had an analyst on staff in Ann Arbor, the school has also faced a joint investigation by the University of Michigan police and the FBI into computer access crimes that led to the firing of former offensive coordinator and QB coach Matt Weiss last January.
There is also the case of former linebackers coach Chris Partridge, who was fired in mid-November after the school alleged he discussed the ongoing NCAA investigation with someone in violation of rules. Partridge later wrote a statement on his social media that also added that he had not destroyed any evidence related to such investigations after reports surfaced that he may have done so.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that in light of so much noise on these fronts, both Rose Bowl opponents are a bit more hesitant to operate as they normally do, instead taking precautions to eliminate any potential openings for mischief — even if Catapult itself says it’s all good.
“You’re aware of what’s going on, you’re aware of teams doing certain things. You try not to get paranoid or let it throw you or your team off balance,” Bama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said. “You do certain things here and there, but you keep the same mentality. A lot of people do it (steal signs), but that’s kind of how it is.”
These days, being paranoid in college football seems par for the course, especially in places like the Big Ten and SEC, where every scrap of information is digested by ever-growing teams in an effort to gain the slightest advantage. Closed-door practices have become the norm for most teams, and fields are often surrounded by ever-increasing layers of security to keep out prying eyes. In Tuscaloosa, apartment complexes near Tide facilities impose restrictions on what residents can do when the team is on their practice fields.
Can Alabama beat Michigan?
The players seem to understand it better than most and are even taking it more calmly than their coaches. While the ban on studying film on iPads has been an annoying part of the routine, it seems that everything being done to ensure victory this week is completely understandable.
“You don’t have a choice if you go on social media. You can’t avoid what’s happening,” the Alabama offensive tackle said. JC Latham“But we’re not really focusing on any other team.”
“Here at Alabama, we prepare the same for everything, no matter who’s playing, when we’re playing them or how big the game is,” the cornerback added. Kool-Aid McKinstry“Same way, no matter what.”
However, that hasn’t really been the case this week.
Instead, paranoia has gripped the Rose Bowl, and nothing eclipses that given what happened in the lead-up to this most unique New Year’s Day game.
Bryan Fischer is a college football reporter for FOX Sports. He has covered college sports for nearly two decades for outlets including NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and NFL.com, among others. Follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
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