MISD athletics implemented a video replay system this past summer. The system uses the existing Hudl cameras and iPads to record and review plays in real time, allowing coaches to analyze game strategies throughout the game. Football Head coach Jeff Hulme looks forward to learning and conquering this new way of information flow.
“[Video replay] could very well be a positive tool once we figure out how to use it, recording and replaying are gonna be a big factor in [the game],” Coach Hulme said.
There will be three coaches: one freshman coach and two middle school coaches, feeding plays and data to the coaches on the field. Two coaches will be on the iPads and one will relay the information to Coach Hulme about plays and lineups being run by the defense. Coach Hulme believes the system will get easier over time.
“The more we do it, the faster we’ll get,” Coach Hulme said. “It’s not gonna be easy. We know there’s gonna be glitches.”
The cameras set up in the press box hold wide and tight views for the coaches to further analyze effective plays. With the tight view of the offense, coaches can examine blocking schemes for run plays and give the quarterback time in the pocket on passing plays.
“You’ve got to be organized when deciding who’s gonna be in charge of the iPad,” Coach Hulme said. “If you tell your coach, ‘hey coach, run it back to see play two’, but if I have it mislabeled we’re not gonna be on the same [page].”
Freshman coach Gerad Jackson focuses on tracking wide receivers’ route running, along with watching the secondary. For Coach Jackson, his emphasis resides with the far side of the field ensuring the safeties are lined up in the right place, along with following the far side wide receivers routes looking for improvements throughout the game.
“I’m making sure they’re lined up properly, at the right depth, and doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Coach Jackson said. “It’ll help [the coaches] make adjustments on the field from a side that they can’t really see.”
With the input from Coach Jackson in the press box, players are now able to have more access to information during the game. This system’s influx of data provides consistency for the players, allowing them to make changes throughout the entire game compared to just halftime changes that would be written down by the coaches.
“As many tools as we can give them to be like the next level, it can only benefit them,” Coach Jackson said.
In a world heavily influenced by technology, sports only add to the influence of this change in high school football. In the coming years, the innovation can only grow in both high school sports along with college and professional leagues as well. College football implemented a new system allowing the head coach to talk and relay messages to his quarterback while on the field, something that’s been around in the NFL for a few years now. Who’s to say one of these developments won’t make it to the high school level soon?
“I would bet in two years we will be able to show the iPad on the sideline,” Coach Hulme said. “It won’t be long before the quarterback has an earpiece in his helmet so the coach can talk to him.”
