Fitz using banner to combat sign stealing on sideline

Coach Pat Fitzgerald confirmed Monday the purple “Northwestern” banner held by staffers the past two games to conceal signs being relayed by coaches to the offense is to prevent opposing teams from stealing signs.“Absolutely,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re smarter than we look. We know what’s going on. We’re getting into Big Ten play now. We know that they know that we know. You’ve got to have answers. We have answers. When you’re playing in the nonconference it’s not as big of a concern but when you’re playing in league play, like I said, we know that they know that we know.”When asked if opposing coaches would have a difficult time decoding signals from behind, Fitzgerald said, “You’d be surprised.”