This post isn't meant to have much meat to it. It's just something I found interesting over the last week.
On the Wednesday before the Kansas City Chiefs season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, Todd Haley was asked how much the offense has changed since Chan Gailey was relieved of his duties and the head coach took over the playcalling duties.
"None, exactly what we ran in the third pre-season game is what you’ll see," Haley responded.
OK, what?
Sports talk radio shows were laughing about that one since we all had safely assumed the offense had changed quite a bit. Players, including Sean Ryan on the Chiefs Radio Network, talked about all the changes that Haley implemented when he took on the role of offensive coordinator.
Today, Haley was asked about the rust factor with Matt Cassel and shed some light on the offense that, according to him, hadn't changed at all since the third preseason game.
"We’ve made some pretty drastic changes around here offensively and that includes terminology and even though he was in the meetings it’s not quite the same when you’re out there and going through the huddle. I would say it set him back a little bit and he’s got to accelerate himself and study extra and put extra time in to catch up. But it’s a learning curve out there for everybody right now offensively."
[Emphasis mine] A week later and he lets it slip.
This post is just to demonstrate that coaches, especially Todd Haley, are well aware of the competitive advantages that a slip of the tongue can provide. Haley didn't want to tip off the Ravens to anything possible advantage and, like the decision to wait on Cassel until Sunday morning, wants the opponent to prepare for the unknown.