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Rich Rodriguez accuses Jacksonville State’s Week 0 opponent of spying during the offseason

Michael Daly

By Michael Daly

Published:

Rich Rodriguez accused Stephen F. Austin of spying on Jacksonville State during the offseason.

Rodriguez, who is entering his first season at Jacksonville State, claimed that Stephen F. Austin sent spies to Jacksonville State’s spring game earlier in the preseason. Rodriguez said he had information from reliable sources that confirmed Stephen F. Austin’s presence at Jacksonville State’s facility.

When speaking to the media, Rodriguez broke down the entire situation about Stephen F. Austin’s presence around the team:

“Pretty good sources that they had a couple staff members at our spring game, which is kind of like — that’s not really supposed to happen,” Rodriguez said in a press conference leading up to the game. “We’re making plans accordingly, so if they’re over there thinking they have our plays or what have you, signals or something like that, we’ve changed things since the spring. … We caught somebody trying to film something the other day. First, my daughter caught him, Raquel saw him. Then we caught him again, saw him peering through there with his camera. I sent the biggest guy in the program, one of our assistant strength coaches. He’s about like 6’7, 350, probably benches like a thousand pounds or something. Sent him up the bleachers to run him out, and that guy disappeared pretty quick.”

If Rodriguez’s claims are true, it would question Stephen F. Austin’s motives heading into the Week 0 game. Rodriguez is tasked with leading Jacksonville State during the program’s final season in the FCS. Jacksonville State is scheduled to join the Conference USA in 2023.

Jacksonville State will play Stephen F. Austin in a neutral site game in Montgomery, Alabama, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Michael Daly