UofL: Cards received leaked Wake Forest plays

Former Wake Forest radio analyst Tommy Elrod shared several plays with Louisville offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway prior to the teams' game this season, Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Those plays were shared with Louisville defensive staff, though none was run during the Nov. 12 game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, according to Jurich's statement.

"Among the communication were a few plays that were sent and then shared with our defensive staff," Jurich said in the statement. "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.

"Any other information that may have been discussed was nothing that our staff had not already seen while studying Wake Forest in their preparations for the game and the material was not given any further attention. I’m disappointed that this issue has brought undue attention to our football staff as we prepare for our upcoming bowl game.”

Jurich's statement says Galloway, who has known Elrod since 2007 and was on the Wake Forest staff with Elrod in 2011 and '12, received a call from Elrod during the week of this year's Wake Forest game, "and some information was shared with (Galloway) that week."

The Atlantic Coast Conference said in a statement that it was in the process of obtaining Wake Forest's findings and would perform its own investigation if warranted.

"Protecting competitive integrity is fundamental to the Atlantic Coast Conference," the statement said. "The conference office is in the process of obtaining the internal findings from Wake Forest University. Based on the information provided, and any other information obtained, the league office will perform its due diligence, and as necessary, additional discussions and actions will occur."

A Wake Forest athletic department spokesman said Wednesday that the school has no plans at this point to make public the electronic evidence it says it gathered in the investigation into whether Elrod, who has since been fired from his analyst position with IMG, attempted to share the Demon Deacons' confidential game-plan information with other teams.

Wake Forest announced Tuesday evening that it had concluded through text messages, emails and phone records that Elrod, a former Wake Forest player and assistant coach, “provided or attempted to provide” opponents with game-preparation information since 2014, but Wake spokesman Steve Shutt said the school now considers the matter closed and doesn't plan to release the phone and email data.

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The investigation began after the Demon Deacons' 44-12 loss at Louisville on Nov. 12 with Wake Forest announcing that a day before the game a member of Wake Forest's travel party discovered documents pertaining to the Demon Deacons' game plan left behind at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

It has been reported that the documents - perhaps cards or diagrams - Wake Forest discovered detailed plays or formations the Demon Deacons had never run in games.

Wake Forest said Tuesday night in a news release the investigation was comprehensive and not limited to the U of L game.

Shutt said Wednesday he could not confirm one way or the other if Wake Forest believes U of L engaged in wrongdoing. Shutt said Wake Forest is not disclosing which schools or parties it has notified.

"We can confirm that Elrod shared information on multiple occasions," Shutt said. "We are not at liberty to disclose with whom he shared the information. We have notified everybody that needs to be notified. It is up to them to take the appropriate action.

"We are emphasizing that we are not naming any institutions as having had this information, but we are saying that Elrod shared the information and attempted to share the information on multiple occasions going back to 2014. ... At this point, we do not have any plans to name any institution that was involved."

Elrod didn't answer his cell phone on Wednesday, and a message left with his attorney had not been returned.

A Louisville spokesman said Tuesday night that coach Bobby Petrino declined to comment on "what appears to be a Wake Forest issue." The coach denied last month having the Demon Deacons' game plan.

"I can tell you that we didn't," Petrino said on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" show last month before Louisville's game at Houston. "I like our team, and I'm down here (in Houston) preparing for this game, so I don't really understand what they're talking about. I heard about it right before we got on the plane to leave. But I can assure you that we prepare each week the way that you're supposed to prepare, and I like the fact that our team knows how to do that."