SWAC looking into claim of stolen practice film

The Southwestern Athletic Conference has opened an investigation into an allegation that Jackson State players and coaches had access to game-week practice film of Arkansas-Pine Bluff prior to the teams’ game on Nov. 2, according to SWAC spokesperson Andrew Roberts.

The allegation came to light Oct. 31, two days before Jackson State’s 41-3 win. A UAPB player informed the coaching staff he was told by a Jackson State player that Tigers defensive players were in the Jackson State team facility watching practice film of UAPB from that week, sources told ESPN.

After receiving this information, UAPB coach Alonzo Hampton logged into the software program the team uses to upload and review practice footage and saw that it had been accessed by the account of a former walk-on who had been cut in the spring, sources said. The IP address connected to the account when it accessed the practice video was assigned to Clinton, Mississippi, a town that neighbors Jackson, sources said.

A UAPB spokesperson acknowledged he was aware of an investigation but declined comment. Hampton did not reply to a text message or a call from ESPN.

A spokesperson for the Jackson State athletic department did not reply to email and voicemail messages sent Thursday seeking comment.

The former walk-on told ESPN that he was contacted by Hampton and UAPB athletic director Chris Robinson on Oct. 31. The former player spoke with ESPN on the condition his name would not be published, citing a desire to limit blowback in his direction.

“[Hampton] let me know that my film has been accessed and I had logged in, and then he said he got word that Jackson State had been using the film,” the player said. “He was persistent in thinking that I had released the film, and I repeated, ‘No, I didn’t release anything to Jackson State.'”

Shortly after the former player spoke with Hampton, he received a call from Robinson in which he again denied having provided a password to anyone at Jackson State. ESPN reviewed the player’s phone log to confirm the calls took place.

The player reaffirmed to ESPN that he did not share his credentials with anyone at Jackson State but said he had shared that information with teammates at UAPB in the past and that there was a loose culture around sharing login information within the team.

The former player said he has not been contacted by the SWAC as part of its investigation.

He said he first received access to the software in spring 2023 and was not aware his credentials were still active until Hampton called him. It’s unclear why UAPB had not removed his access after he was no longer on the team.

A source familiar with the video-sharing software cautioned against using the IP address as some kind of proof that the film was accessed near Jackson, as various measures can be used to alter the location of an IP address. The software has a security feature that would have allowed UAPB to limit access for each account to specific devices, but it was not used.

Jackson State (9-2, 7-0 SWAC) was a heavy favorite against UAPB (3-8, 2-5) and held the Golden Lions to their worst offensive performance since being shutout by Arkansas in the season opener.

Jackson State clinched a spot in the SWAC title game on Saturday with a 16-10 win over Alabama State, after which a postgame altercation between the teams led to fines of $25,000 for both schools and 16 one-game player suspensions, including seven on Jackson State.