Technology 10/10

Digital Sports Video. I get to spend lots of time with this software. 12 years ago, we still used a VHS tape and a jog/shuttle to watch the same plays over and over. The lack of image quality allowed for some mistakes to go unseen. Fast forward, rewind. You had to take a ton of notes when you broke down film on an opposing team. Now, we film games friday night onto a mini dv. This itself is not "new" technology, but when we capture it to the software, it is already broken down into short video segments for each play since the recording is only paused when play is not going. Each play is tagged with all the information we want about ourselves or our opponent and then all we do is ask questions. What is the favorite play in 3rd and long. Which side of the field do they run to. Who has the most carries. You can easily isolate plays to look at certain techniques. The image quality allows no one to hide. When we are done with breakdown, we sync everything to an online site and all our players can log in and watch from home.

Does this "technology" make me a better coach? No. It can only make me better prepared for an opponent or show our own strengths and weaknesses as team. Most high school football programs have some sort of video editing software. If you do your homework and they do theirs, you are both prepared.

But none of that causes the players to buy into what the coach is saying. None of that causes them to play as a team. None of that causes the players to give their full effort on every play. When you watch successful teams, these are the things that you see.

So if all things are equal, including coaching/teaching qualifications, why is it that players will buy into what one coach says and not the other one?