In January, Clemson finished its business from the year before, winning college football’s National Championship.

And if the Tigers wondered if they’d have a bullseye on their back heading into the 2017 season, all they had to do was open up Athlon’s season preview, where an unnamed “opposing ACC assistant coach” accused Clemson of stealing signals.

Interesting quote on Clemson in the Athlon CFB preview mag. pic.twitter.com/fUIKFzOInM — Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 2, 2017

“They’ll steal your signals,” the coach said. “People don’t want to talk about it, but the teams that give them fits were NC State and Pitt, because they huddled.”

These accusations are always great because 1) they’re impossible to prove and 2) even if they are true, it’s impossible to figure out the extent to which Clemson stole signs — was it one game? Three games? Eight? And perhaps most importantly, if Clemson did steal signs, isn’t it the fault of the opposing offense for not switching things up?

Pittsburgh did give the Clemson defense fits, averaging 6.5 yards per play, while putting up 464 yards and 43 points in a 43-42 upset. But N.C. State, for all its huddling, put up just 397 yards and 17 points in a game that went to overtime.