Reading the NFL Coaches Group Photo

The NFL's annual owners meetings class photograph always gives the show something to work with, and this year's picture was full of quiet tells about who sits where, who's avoiding whom, and who's clearly still riding the Super Bowl high.

The first pattern was the sibling lineup. John Harbaugh and Jim Harbaugh planted next to Matt LaFleur and Mike LaFleur, with Mike, the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, parked in the home head coach slot. The brothers stayed together. Professional courtesy, maybe, or just the easiest way to handle seating assignments.

The more interesting read was distance. Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur have history, the kind that doesn't love a close-up. They were not next to each other, but they weren't across the photo either. Three coaches stood between them as a human buffer, with Joe Brady playing a key role in the wall. Brady is taller than people assume. Matt LaFleur might be shorter than people assume. Clint Kubiak, zoomed in, looked actively unhappy, though the sun was in every coach's eyes.

The Super Bowl question came next. Andy Reid historically plants himself front and center as the defending champ, but Mike McDonald ended up center-ish, parked next to the two men who hired him on the Ravens staff. McDonald was smiling like a guy who just won a Super Bowl, because he is that guy.

Mike Vrabel earned his own moment. The only active head coach in the photo who had already won a Super Bowl as a head coach, Vrabel was stationed a few seats over from McDonald, next to Sean Payton and Jeff Hafley. Hafley looked like a man cooking up a master plan. Vrabel, predictably, was man-spreading. If anybody was going to claim a seat and a half, it was going to be Vrabel.

The closing read was Liam Coen and Mike McCarthy, who will face off next season. In the photo, Coen was noticeably leaning away from McCarthy. The working theory, delivered with a straight face, was that the room was warm and McCarthy might have ripped one.

The bit worked because these photos never change but the reads always do. New head coaches in new colors, old rivalries hiding in the seating chart, and one still-smiling Super Bowl winner giving the whole thing away.