Gibbs and espionage?

[joecrisp]

Having been among the media throng during the Redskins' second minicamp, when Gibbs first started expressing his "paranoid" tendencies, I can tell you that he takes espionage and info leaks very seriously. It's not just particular formations or plays that he's concerned his opponents will find out about-- he doesn't even want the media reporting where particular players are lining up during practice (ie, LaVar Arrington lining up at defensive end).

His definition of what constitutes "technical information" is, in the eyes of many members of the press, unreasonably broad, and this difference in opinion is ultimately what led Gibbs to close all but the first 20 to 30 minutes of each practice to the media during minicamps. Of course, that period consists mostly of stretching and mundane positional drills, so there is very little of substance to report as far as what the team is doing on the practice field. Good for Coach Gibbs and the Redskins; bad for the beat reporters who rely on watching practice to provide their audience with something other than meaningless soundbites and the canned information that's fed to them by the media relations department.

When Coach Gibbs informed the press of his decision to close practices, he said that he wanted to hold his cards as close to his vest as possible until September, and avoid giving his opponents any premature indication of what the new Gibbs arsenal has in store. That's why much of training camp will also be closed to the public and the media.