NFL Spygate part II? Niners Saleh calls out Jaguars coaching tactics
The Jacksonville Jaguars travel to San Francisco this weekend in a matchup that might have been flying a bit under the radar with fans, but not any longer. Any time “sign-stealing” is mentioned, especially by coaches, things get spicy.
What’s with the “sign-stealing” and is it legal?
San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh referred to the term on Thursday when asked what the biggest challenge is when facing the Jaguars and their new coaching staff.
“They’ve got a — legally — really advanced signal-stealing type of system, where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation,” Saleh said. “They do a great job of it. They formation you, they just try to find any nugget they can. So, we’ve got to be great with our signals and we’ve got to be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field.”
Saleh didn’t stop there. He experienced some of the same tactics during his tenure as head coach of the New York Jets. He said the system has been perfected by those from the Sean McVay coaching tree, referring to the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl-winning coach. Those coaching disciples include Jaguars coach Liam Coen and offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, who worked under Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“They’re almost elite in that regard, that whole entire (coaching) tree, from Sean (McVay) to Kevin O’Connell to all of those guys. They all do it,” Saleh said. “So, there’s challenges. They’re going to catch us in some situations, where they have the advantage, and we’ve just got to play good, sound fundamental football and do our best to out-execute them.
What was Liam Coen’s reaction?
Coen, in his first season as Jaguars head coach, was asked about Saleh’s comments on Friday, and initially said he didn’t want to talk about it. Then he decided to explain how figuring out an opponent’s “tells” is part of the job.
“We have kind of typically, by formation, by game plan, by working really hard as a coaching staff throughout the week, trying to get indicators by your formation, motions, shifts, pre-snap,” Coen said. “Those are the things you’re trying to do as a coach if you’re trying to put your players in the best position to be successful, whether it’s attacking man or zone coverage with your formations, motions and concepts.”
Is it anything like the Patriots’ “Spygate” scandal?
The NFL’s most infamous sign-stealing scandal, ”Spygate,” occurred in 2007. Eric Mangini, the head coach of the New York Jets, accused the New England Patriots, his former team, of videotaping opposing teams’ defensive signals during games. An investigation found New England had taped over 40 games from 2000 to 2007. The league fined head coach Bill Belichick $500,000. The Patriots were fined $250,000 and lost their 2008 first-round draft pick.
The Patriots’ actions violated league rules. The Jaguars’ method of “sign-stealing” is legal. Teams and coaching staff are constantly trying to learn more about an opponent’s tendencies and tells, whether that’s through game film legally distributed by the league, or by watching the opposing sidelines closely.
That said, hearing one coach call out another staff for those tactics certainly adds a bit of juice to Sunday’s matchup. The undefeated 49ers (3-0) are three-point favorites at home against the 2-1 Jaguars.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
