When the Steelers’ coaches headsets malfunctioned on Thursday night in New England, it was treated by some as evidence of cheating by the Patriots. But several NFL head coaches said on Friday that in reality, headset problems are commonplace around the league, and not just in New England.
“It’s a league problem. It’s wherever,” said Panthers coach Ron Rivera. “It will go out right in the middle and not just here or in New England or in San Francisco, but it could go out in a critical time.”
Said Texans coach Bill O’Brien: “It happened in Dallas, it happens here, it happens wherever I’ve been.”
Said Eagles coach Chip Kelly: “I’ve heard a lot of things on the headsets, I think there’s a lot of frequency issues some places. I’ve heard air traffic control and a lot of different things.”
Said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett: “That’s certainly been a part of having to deal with game day situations, throughout my career as a player and a coach.”
Said Jets coach Todd Bowles: “It’s happened a bunch of other places. There have been times when the headsets have gone out, it wasn’t New England, I can’t remember the places we’ve had it, but we’ve had some of those headset problems.”
Said Lions coach Jim Caldwell: “It happens sometimes, sometimes there are quirks and technology is not always perfect. Things pop up. The problem is if you’re not prepared for it. If you’re not prepared for it, you’re going to have some issues.”
On Friday morning, it appeared that the NFL was about to have another scandal on its hands in the form of “Headsetgate.” But as Friday wore on, it began to look more like the NFL just has a problem common in a lot of workplaces: The communications technology doesn’t always work properly.