Coach to QB Communication Question

[PatsFaninAZ]

(Sorry to the seeming vocal majority here looking for crazy conspiracies. This is not going to be some far fletched hypothetical about aliens beaming signals to Polian to get the CIA to use black helicopters and secret satelites to jam the Patriots communications equipment, so if that's what you thought when you saw the headline, please just move along. )

How does the communication usually work? Is the head coach in on the loop between the OC and the QB? I assume he must be. In fact, in watching many games this year, sometimes they flash to Belichick between offensive plays, and he seems to be speaking into his head set mic. I've always assumed that this is Belichick weighing in on the calling of the play -- I've even seen him, if I can lip read correctly, saying things like, "ok, what are we going to do here?" or things like that.

If this is true, I think the communications problem from Sunday was much more critical than just requiring cumbersome signaling from the bench. It might actually have taken BB out of the loop on the play calls, when he ordinarily could have weighed in. I'm inferring from the Monday morning press conference, for example, that Belichick was not delighted with the play call on 2d and 24, with under 2:00 to go that led to the interception. And the reality is that from seeing the way BB operates, this is not what he would have called. With 24 yards to go for a first down at the 38, the defense typically plays a bit soft, and he would have gone for an option that used clock (or required Indy to use a timeout) and gained yardage toward a manageable field goal.

Based on two plays -- that play and the play that resulted in the Stallworth catch, it seems to me that Josh is not nearly as sophisticated as BB in clock management and game management. Maybe they've divided the labor on this. So, I guess the question is whether BB is typically in the loop on the coach to QB discussions and whether he overrules Josh. Because if so, a glitch in the system like we had on Sunday is far more than just a cumbersome glitch. Probably good that it happened during the regular season so that the team can work out some contingencies in case it happens in a more important game.

 

[FortressX]

I am bumping hoping that someone knows the answer!
3 more ?
What frequency/frequencies is this on?
Are these communications scrambled?
Is there a repeater in each stadium?

 

[Bostonian1962]

(Sorry to the seeming vocal majority here looking for crazy conspiracies. This is not going to be some far fletched hypothetical about aliens beaming signals to Polian to get the CIA to use black helicopters and secret satelites to jam the Patriots communications equipment, so if that's what you thought when you saw the headline, please just move along. )

How does the communication usually work? Is the head coach in on the loop between the OC and the QB? I assume he must be. In fact, in watching many games this year, sometimes they flash to Belichick between offensive plays, and he seems to be speaking into his head set mic. I've always assumed that this is Belichick weighing in on the calling of the play -- I've even seen him, if I can lip read correctly, saying things like, "ok, what are we going to do here?" or things like that.

If this is true, I think the communications problem from Sunday was much more critical than just requiring cumbersome signaling from the bench. It might actually have taken BB out of the loop on the play calls, when he ordinarily could have weighed in. I'm inferring from the Monday morning press conference, for example, that Belichick was not delighted with the play call on 2d and 24, with under 2:00 to go that led to the interception. And the reality is that from seeing the way BB operates, this is not what he would have called. With 24 yards to go for a first down at the 38, the defense typically plays a bit soft, and he would have gone for an option that used clock (or required Indy to use a timeout) and gained yardage toward a manageable field goal.

Based on two plays -- that play and the play that resulted in the Stallworth catch, it seems to me that Josh is not nearly as sophisticated as BB in clock management and game management. Maybe they've divided the labor on this. So, I guess the question is whether BB is typically in the loop on the coach to QB discussions and whether he overrules Josh. Because if so, a glitch in the system like we had on Sunday is far more than just a cumbersome glitch. Probably good that it happened during the regular season so that the team can work out some contingencies in case it happens in a more important game.

I honestly don't know. If Indy gained an advantage by any of their tactics Sunday (shut down communication, false snap counts, piped in crowd noise, turning up the heat), BB would never let them know it hurt his team. On the other side, Polian and Co. would never even acknowledge doing it, so we'll probably never know regardless.