#WakeyLeaks is college football's delightfully absurd spy scandal
Wake Forest's football team got demolished by Louisville Cardinals (44-12) last month, but it turns out some foul play gave the winning team a serious advantage.
Tommy Elrod, Wake Forest's radio announcer and former assistant coach, leaked game plans to the Cardinals' offensive coordinator, Louisville said on Wednesday.
Wake Forest launched an investigation last month after it found a sheet featuring its plays in Louisville's stadium a day before the two teams met on Nov. 12.
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The ridiculous turn of events has been appropriately labeled #WakeyLeaks, thanks to the Internet.
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson immediately suspected espionage after the blowout loss last month, voicing concerns about a "security breach."
The university announced on Tuesday that Elrod "provided or attempted to provide” game plans on multiple occasions since 2014. Wake Forest fired Elrod and banned him from the university's facilities.
To be clear: A college football team's radio announcer was allegedly leaking secret information to opponents for years. It's safe to say the Internet enjoyed this one.
Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino initially denied having any knowledge of the situation. But on Wednesday, the university admitted to receiving game plans from Elrod, who coached with Louisville offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway at Wake Forest during the 2011-12 season.
"Lonnie received a call from Elrod during the week of the Wake Forest game, and some information was shared with him that week," Louisville director Tim Jurich said in a statement.
"Among the communication were a few plays that were sent and then shared with our defensive staff. None of the special plays were run during the course of the game. Our defense regularly prepares for similar formations every week in their normal game plan."
Elrod played football for Wake Forest from 1993 to 1997, before serving 11 seasons on the coaching staff.
He switched to the radio booth when Clawson took over the program in 2014.
"I am extremely disappointed that our confidential and proprietary game preparation was compromised," Clawson said, per SBNation.
"It's incomprehensible that a former Wake Forest student athlete, graduate assistant, fulltime football coach, and current radio analyst for the school, would betray his alma mater."
In the record books, Nov. 12 will just read as a loss for Wake Forest.
But man, was it a whole lot more complicated than that.
