Arizona State coach Todd Graham made a not-so-shocking revelation Tuesday.
"Do we steal signals? Yeah, we do. Do people steal our signals? Yeah, they do," he said after practice. "It's our responsibility to make sure our signals are safe."
Graham has come under some fire the last two weeks after players from Utah and coaches from Oregon have accused his staff of trying to steal offensive signals. That prompted Washington State coach Mike Leach, whose team faces ASU on Saturday, to say the Pac-12 should investigate.
However, Graham -- as well as several other Pac-12 coaches -- says ASU is playing within the rules and participating in a common practice in football.
"I don't really care what anybody else says," he said. "If I had a question about somebody else, I'd pick up the phone and call them."
Graham told ESPN.com that he's frustrated the topic has been played out in the media, calling it a non-issue and a waste of time.
At his Monday news conference, Leach said the fact that it has come up in consecutive weeks warrants the conference stepping in to investigate.
"They probably ought to do an investigation on them," Leach said. "I mean, you've got two straight schools with concerns over it, back-to-back and they have a reputation for it that extends beyond that. The conference probably ought to investigate them and see what they're doing, make sure nothing is illegal."
A spokesman for the Pac-12 said no formal complaints have been issued.
Last week in their triple-overtime win over the Sun Devils, the Ducks used white sheets to mask their signals. A week before, host Utah started huddling in the fourth quarter after suspecting their signals had been compromised by ASU. Several Utah players -- not coach Kyle Whittingham -- raised the issue.
"Absolutely it's part of the game," Whittingham said. "The onus falls on the guys doing the signaling. It's not the other guy's job to look the other way. It is the job of the team doing the signaling that have signals that are complex enough that they don't get picked off. If they are, you have to have a Plan B. Our Plan B was going to a huddle."
UCLA coach Jim Mora said he thought Oregon's sheet approach was "ingenious and awesome."
"I think Arizona State just plays the game, and I think they do it really well," Mora said. "... It's no different than reading someone's stance or formation. It's a tactical clue. I think Oregon recognized that and did a heck of a job trying to disguise it. I credit Arizona State, really, for forcing a team to go to the lengths that Oregon went to. It's a credit to both of those staffs. It's pretty cool, actually."
Washington coach Chris Petersen said in the offseason that the conference should look into adding microphones into the quarterback's helmets, an idea Graham said he supports 100 percent.