"Sign Stealers"

On the road to/from the Touchstone Conference and the ND/UL football game, I listened to this episode on Netflix. Key takeaways: 

-"Stealing signs" is allowed within bounds, including hiring people to decipher signs.

-Good sign stealing may add (significant noise) to understanding player quality. (E.g., if you're on a team with good/bad sign stealing, the quality of your play may be less/more than expected.)

-Stealing the sign is one thing, but I wasn't clear how they communicated the info to their own players.

-It was strange that the NCAA acted so quickly on the allegations in the Michigan case. 

-It's noteworthy that UM won (higher-pressure, tougher-opponent) games without the apparent benefit of sign stealing and with Harbaugh sidelined. 

-One wonders the extent to which it played head games with opponents more than making a difference. 

-Modern helmets are now allowed by the NCAA, but would have avoided much/all of this problem. (Why not before?!)