Why are coaches banned from live scouting? Did it help Baylor football?
Jon Solomon discusses the implications of a Baylor assistant being on the Tulsa sideline during an Oklahoma game last week.
By
Jon Solomon
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3 min read
Put aside for a minute why Baylor assistant coach Jeff Lebby was supposedly on Tulsa’s sideline during Saturday’s game against Oklahoma. First-year Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery was previously Baylor’s offensive coordinator. Baylor coach Art Briles and Montgomery said Lebby’s presence was a mistake with no malicious intent, and that Lebby was in town for a wedding on Baylor’s bye week and attended the game to support Montgomery.
Whatever the reason, it’s pretty clear Lebby’s presence violated NCAA bylaw 11.6.1, which prohibits “off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents.” That bylaw has been on the books since 1994 and, as Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops noted to reporters this week, it’s "a pretty fundamental rule.”
Which raises the questions: Why does this rule exist and what could a coach gain by live scouting? I spoke with one former major college football coach and one current FBS coach. They both believe, based on the limited amount of information that has come out publicly of Lebby's activities on the sideline, there’s not much he could have gained by being on the field.
“I don’t know what he was doing while on the sideline, but you’re going to see less on the sideline than watching on film or upstairs,” the current FBS coach said. “Being real honest, you probably could have gotten any info they wanted later on from (Montgomery) since they’re good friends. I think it’s a little overblown.”
The current FBS coach said there are definitely advantages to live scouting. He said seeing the speed of the game and players in person is valuable, as is studying hand and play board signals given how much signaling occurs in football these days.
But if Lebby wanted to steal signals, “he’d be hiding upstairs in the press box,” the FBS coach said. “That’s why I just see it as a mistake. I see advantages if he’s in the press box and he has binoculars or even a video camera watching their signals. I think everybody now knows your signals need to be good enough that somebody could be watching you. That’s why I don’t see it as a big deal.”
So why does the NCAA prohibit live scouting except for events at the same site, such as NCAA and conference championships?
“It’s finances, more than anything,” a former college football coach said. “You’d have schools spending money to scout in person. I used to do that as a [graduate assistant] and go in the press box, stay overnight and take the film back home. Film exchange back then was by hand and their scout was at your game so you’d get the film at the same time. Now it’s all done digitally.”
If Lebby was seen with headsets on or taking notes, that would be an issue, the former coach said. “But the best place to do that is get somebody in a press box with binoculars,” the former coach said. “I did that. Everybody does that during the game. You’ve got a nice vision coming from up above.”
For a while, the NCAA banned in-person scouting for only a couple sports, such as football, basketball and volleyball. In 2013, the NCAA banned live scouting in all sports for most circumstances, but only after the measure survived an override vote. The NCAA reported that 55.2 percent of schools and conferences voted to override the ban, falling short of the 62.5 percent needed to overturn the rule. The reason cited for the ban across all sports was improved technology and the belief that live scouting impacts fair competition. Some coaches believe they won’t have the same access to quality video.
Briles, who called the situation embarrassing, has apologized to Stoops. So has Montgomery. Former Oklahoma fullback J.D. Runnels told The Oklahoman that he talked with Lebby on the sideline at Saturday’s game and the issue is a “non-story.” because he wasn’t scouting. The Oklahoman noted that two highly-ranked recruits with offers from Baylor were visiting Oklahoma for the game.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsbly declined to comment because of the pending process involving Lebby’s violation. The Dallas Morning News reported Baylor’s compliance office will self-report the violation and recommend any penalties that will be self-imposed.
