There Are No More NFL Secrets

There Are No More NFL Secrets
By Kevin Clark
http://online.wsj.com/articles/there...e_EditorsPicks

If NFL coaches love anything more than a good third-down conversion or an open-field tackle on special teams, it is secrecy. Game plans are treated like nuclear launch codes.
As Pittsburgh Steelers assistant Todd Haley puts it, coaches are inclined to watch for notoriously ruthless Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis at the top of every hill, who may be trying to steal secrets. No matter that Davis died three years ago.
But this year, something unusual happened. A confluence of social media, new technology, broadcast changes and advanced statistics has made for a new NFL where, according to those inside the game, information is more transparent than ever. In short, coaches may have to abandon one of their key traits: being totally unhinged with paranoia.
"Guys can hack into our government's top most secret areas. You think there's going to be anything that will be a secret in football? The day is here," said Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell. "It is a new day."

The change has been quick but, according to coaches, monumental. Here's how it happened: In 2011, the NFL began putting microphones on players, broadcasting pre-snap hollers in real-time. Then through the aid of Xs and Os websites, actual NFL playbooks became as easy to find online as a Taylor Swift song. And don't even get coaches started on Instagram or Vine posts of training camp, which is open to the public and in a tough-to-control environment with thousands of fans. None of these things bothered the tinfoil-hat-wearing coaches who led teams for the decades previous to this one.
In response, NFL teams are changing. Some are downright giving up the idea of secrecy.
In Buffalo, general manager Doug Whaley, who has instructed his staff "to be under the impression that there are no secrets," has taken some unusual steps. In May, he allowed scouts to give their reports on the team's undrafted free agents—on the team's website. An example, on then-newly-signed linebacker Jimmy Gaines: "What he lacks in size and speed he makes up for in quickness and shows the ability to slip backs."
This, league executives said, would be unheard of until recently.
The challenge, now, is figuring out just how open to be.
Last week, a fan asked Cleveland Browns president Alec Scheiner why they weren't streaming practice online. The idea of streaming any team activities for the public would once be a total non-starter in the paranoid NFL of years past. But Scheiner informed the fan they would have three practices on their website. "And the fan said 'why not more?' We're finding out there's a desire for it," Scheiner said. "Part of it is we weren't initially sure there was a demand for live-streaming practice."
Whaley said he's not concerned with secret-stealing among those who can see his practice. "A fan taking a picture has never won or lost us a game," he said. The Bills are able to take advantage of the technology. For instance, Whaley said scouts peruse college fan message boards to get a better read on a player, and comb through social media for information that could give them a leg up that they wouldn't have before this current era of technology.
Other teams have noticed new opportunities too. One coach said he studies the background of television standups to see if there are formations or audio that can be used for opposition research. The answer is almost always no, this coach said. But he tries anyway.
The Cleveland Browns are streaming training-camp days online. Associated Press
This new era of openness has impacted how the game is played. The biggest phenomenon, coaches and executives say, is the end of the "hidden gem." Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim noticed in the run-up to the draft that fans were coming up to him to talk about John Brown, a little-known wide receiver from Pittsburg State, and other more obscure prospects. It was then, he realized, that information on even fringe draft prospects had trickled down to fans. "Everyone knows who Johnny Manziel is, but people are coming up to me asking me about guys that only your area scouts are supposed to know about," Keim said.
Whaley said there used to be two types of "hidden" prospects. One was a basketball player, who could be convinced by a team to work out, in secret, and see if he could make the adjustment. The other was a big-school player who was buried on the depth chart and maybe only played a handful of games in his career. Whaley said these days, the basketball player's information and film would be readily available that he'd sign with an agent immediately, leading to a bidding war.
Meanwhile, for the player buried on the depth chart, there is readily available high-definition high school and spring game tape, making it useless to gather intelligence on him through coaching sources. Likely, there would be some online buzz on any potential pro prospect that in turn would put him on the radar of a handful of teams, who also monitor the internet for nuggets about potential gems.
Keim, who joked that the best strategy in the runup to the draft is now to be as honest as possible, since no one would believe you, has another theory: "Maybe Bruce [Arians] and I aren't smart enough to be paranoid or throw out smokescreens," he said. "But there are no secrets anymore."