[Goose]

My impression was that those excessive shifts never actually did any good. You'll note that play at 8:22 went for no gain.
The shifts did tend to really annoy opposing coaches, which may have had a certain value right there.

I think those shifts were aimed at coaches who call the defense from the sidelines. It hopefully left them too little time to signal in a new play call to the player who would then "call" the defense on the field. So yes, it did "annoy" those teams a lot. I think nowdays the coaches have a simpler signaling method because up-tempo teams create the same problems. Real quick snaps.

[Goose]

My impression was that those excessive shifts never actually did any good. You'll note that play at 8:22 went for no gain.
The shifts did tend to really annoy opposing coaches, which may have had a certain value right there.

I think those shifts were aimed at coaches who call the defense from the sidelines. It hopefully left them too little time to signal in a new play call to the player who would then "call" the defense on the field. So yes, it did "annoy" those teams a lot. I think nowdays the coaches have a simpler signaling method because up-tempo teams create the same problems. Real quick snaps.