No, this isn't the look of a low-security prison; it's daily protocol for safeguarding Oklahoma football practice from spies.
Six weeks ago, the New England Patriots made spying a national story, when the NFL punished coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots for spying on the New York Jets.
But long before, college coaches — especially at OU — have taken spying as a serious threat.
"I haven't heard any (rumors of spying),” Stoops said. "But I wouldn't put it past some guys.”
OU's practices are closed to the media and to the public.
In fact, during the preseason scrimmages, Stoops had the west side closed to fans so no one could watch the coaches signaling from the east sideline.
"I don't want someone sitting out here watching one of our scrimmages and just sitting there getting it all,” Stoops said. "That's why, a lot of times, we just go on the east side.”
Oklahoma State has a black tarp on a fence surrounding its practice facility, but no on-duty security guards.
The OU athletic department, however, hires Sooner Security of Norman to provide up to seven security guards daily to remove any would-be spies at Sooner football practices.
Twenty minutes before every practice, guards walk the fence line around the Bud Wilkinson Football Practice Facility, checking for tape recorders and video cameras.
One guard is stationed on top of Owen Field's south bleachers. Another drives a golf cart through the parking garage nearly adjacent to the west side of the practice facility.
Two more guards patrol the sidewalks on Lindsey Street and Asp Avenue outside the Wilkinson Facility, which already is surrounded by fences and thick shrubbery.
The security detail also walks through Gaylord Hall, the journalism building located to the west. If anyone is watching practice through the windows, they are asked to move along.
Another guard checks the clock tower, where from the top, practice can be seen.
The security guards can remove people on the stadium grounds, but can only ask people to leave other locations and contact campus police.
Most of the time, the guards find students watching practice for mere enjoyment.
But other times, the threat hasn't been so benign.
"Last year, right before the Texas game, we caught two people in the southwest corner (of the practice facility) with a video camera hiding in the bushes,” said Ryan Thomas, one of the Sooner Security supervisors. "We don't know who they were with, but we ran them off.”
More than a month ago, Stoops told ESPN.com that he regrets practicing in the Superdome before the 2003 season Sugar Bowl.
The Sooners were getting ready to play LSU, coached by Nick Saban, a disciple of Belichick.
"I would have gone to some high school and hopefully have a lot fewer people (around),” Stoops said. "I'm not saying that in any negative way toward Nick. I'm just saying there was too many people to track or keep up with.”
Stoops didn't accuse Saban of spying.
But 53 years before, LSU likely did spy on OU before the 1950 Sugar Bowl.
A former LSU player was caught watching OU's practices.
"When you have an open practice, there's sometimes people at your practice who aren't your people. That's a fact,” said current OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. "People put things on YouTube where you can watch everything; it's easy to get a video of what everybody is doing at practice.
"I think that's one of the reasons we went to closed practices.”
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If noone believes it happens, they have to be crazy. As Cody says, with the stakes involved, teams will try and gain an advantage any way they can. Just ask Bill Bellichik!!!
College football has become a multi-million $ business with many coaches receiving very large bonuses/incentives for bowl wins. As a result, who could blame a coach for being worried or cautious of another coach's overzealous (albeit unethical) efforts to gain a competitive advantage?
I'm curious what the punishment would be now for spying on teams. I feel like punishments aren't as harsh as they were in the 80s, so it would be interesting to see what the fall out would be.
That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. If we lose a game because somebody had a cell phone taking pictures, we were toast to begin with. OU and Coach Stoops have COMPLETELY overreacted in the past few years to "spying." It's Big Brother at it's worst. Causing the fans to pay a price for their paranoia, especially compared to the openness of other big-time programs like Southern Cal, is infuriating, and at the same time, funny.
How times have changed. As an OU student between 1976-1979, I can remember numerous occasions when I would walk from Copeland Hall and cut through the south end zone bleachers to get to my apartment on Brooks Street during Switzer's practices. It was common for students to sit in the stands, read, sunbathe, and basically kill time watching practice. Once in a while practice would be closed (usually during Texas week) but the stadium was open to anyone. I'm not faulting the current atmosphere...if I were a head coach, I'm sure I'd be overprotective, too.
I have an afternoon class in Gaylord Hall in a second-story room that faces the practice field. Does this mean they're going to ask me to "move along" when I find myself occasionally watching practice during a discussion?
Ironically enough, the class is "Journalism Ethics."
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OU security guard Matthew Harrell stands along Asp Avenue on campus to keep people from lingering outside the fence during the OU football practice. Many college coaches view spying as a serious threat. by jaconna Aguirre, THE OKLAHOMAN
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I'm an Oklahoman transplant living in Los Angeles. SC practices are closed to the public.
Ironically enough, the class is "Journalism Ethics."