I've been wondering for a while: how often are defensive signals changed?

[BradyManny]

Please, I don't want this to be another spygate thread, trolls please exist - but I've been wondering this for some time...

Never played football, but sign stealing/play stealing is an issue in every sport, basketball, baseball. To those who have played/coached: How often does a football team change up its signals?

The notion that the Steelers used the same signals in the 04 AFCCG as in the regular season seems ridiculous - if they did, they're dumb and deserve to lose.

Every team in every sport has to be cognizant of play stealing, but to those who know the game well, to what extent do teams disguise/change signals?

 

[jbb9s]

Doug Johnson when he played for the Falcons once started a game against the Redskins. About a quarter of the way thru the game, he went to the defensive coordinated and said "I can give you the code breaker for the offensive audibles".

.......Johnson had played under Spurrior at UF 5 years earlier.

 

[BelichickFan]

Based on how I hear about teams using the same audibles year after year my guess is we'd be shocked at how little they change.

 

[JoePats]

Supposedly the Raiders didn't change their audibles/line adjustments from when Gruden was the coach to when they faced Gruden in the Super Bowl the next year.

So I guess the answer is not as often as they should. Knowing that every team is trying to steal them, I would change them every week or two. Remember, only a couple of defensive players actually need them. Then they relay the play to the rest of the players.

 

[DarrylS]

When this whole fiasco started remember reading that for each game there are three sets of D signals given, two are dummies and one is live.. the key is figuring out what is what and interpreting them..

You can switch guys, etc. the whole thing is pretty hard to figure out, but makes great press.