Gaining a (temporary?) competitive edge: Video on the sidelines in 2017 (NCAA rule change)

[cheekygeek]

Nebraska football (and other athletics) gained an edge, decades ago, by being among the first to embrace the science of nutrition and weight training. Over time, other schools caught up, but understanding and mastering things like this are a way to make up ground (or maintain ground gains) versus the field.

 

I'd like to suggest that there is a Brave New World that Nebraska needs to be among the first to exploit, and it involves a significant NCAA rules change allowing the use of video during the game and on the sideline, for 2017. This moves the college game closer to what you see in the NFL. Imagine quarterback or the sideline head coach, being able to review overhead (press box) video of the defense on their last possession, or even in real time when calling plays.

 

This rule change was suggested in 2016, but postponed until 2017. When the proposed NCAA change was announced, a company that makes a system (already in use in the NFL) was, obviously, excited about the opportunity to market to university programs. If they have ANY kind of a marketing program, I'm sure Nebraska (and other universities with cash to spend) have been approached about it. I'm not sure what all is involved with it, but I have the feeling that each university is going to need someone to head up a new department in charge of implementing the system, administering the system, and managing the system effectively during the game. The team that figures out how to exploit this new information flood most effectively is going to have a HUGE advantage until everyone else catches up. This means hiring people for new positions that don't even exist right now and training coaches and assistant coaches (Special Teams, anyone?) to take advantage of the in-game look that this provides. It will also revolutionize what the various units can see and discuss in half-time adjustments.

 

I have not read all of the rules, but if these systems are not standardized across all campuses then a few questions come up:

Do both sidelines need to have access to the video available in a stadium?

If not, that could be a HUGE home field advantage.

If they do both get access, one must become familiar with the number of cameras and their camera angles, (etc) that will be used when visiting an opponent with such a system.

 

My point is that this opens a whole new can of worms and the teams that are on top of exploiting any such technology could have a tremendous edge until the playing field levels and everyone else catches up. (I can visualize taking the knowledge of which teams have this InsightReplay system playing a big role in covering the spread for betting, for example.)

 

We throw the term "game-changer" around a lot, but this is literally going to be a GAME-CHANGER.

[GSG]

 

 

JK! I think it's a great idea

[QMany]

I wasn't aware of that rule change. That is a good idea. 

[cheekygeek]

Since the NFL has a year or two jump on the NCAA with regard to these tools, I would suggest that Nebraska quickly hire someone with experience running the system used in the NFL. I'm not sure how many connections within the NFL most NCAA Athletic Directors and their staffs have, but (if there isn't already) there is going to be a real rush to hire away some of these people to the major college ranks. I'd suggest getting to know the people with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, for starters. This field is new enough that different teams probably have different Job Titles, which makes headhunting for them on LinkedIn.com a little difficult. 

 

I'm not sure that Insight Replay is the system used in the NFL, but I suspect that it is. There may be other companies competing in this space.

[bugeater17]

1 minute ago, cheekygeek said:

Since the NFL has a year or two jump on the NCAA with regard to these tools, I would suggest that Nebraska quickly hire someone with experience running the system used in the NFL. I'm not sure how many connections within the NFL most NCAA Athletic Directors and their staffs have, but (if there isn't already) there is going to be a real rush to hire away some of these people to the major college ranks. I'd suggest getting to know the people with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, for starters. This field is new enough that different teams probably have different Job Titles, which makes headhunting for them on LinkedIn.com a little difficult. 

 

I'm not sure that Insight Replay is the system used in the NFL, but I suspect that it is. There may be other companies competing in this space.

 

I'd hafta agree and think that Bill Devaney's connections would be useful. 

[QMany]

It wouldn't surprise me to see Chip Kelly bringing this with him to UCLA, presuming he's experienced with it from his time with the 49ers and maybe the Eagles.

[swmohusker]

We use this at our HS and it is awesome.  Being able to see the Tight copy and see fronts, movements and technique between drives is great.  Worst part is having video evidence of how bad the officiating is and not being able to do anything about it.  

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, swmohusker said:

We use this at our HS and it is awesome.  Being able to see the Tight copy and see fronts, movements and technique between drives is great.  Worst part is having video evidence of how bad the officiating is and not being able to do anything about it.  

 

Pretty difficult to do that here when our kids play both ways.

[cheekygeek]

8 minutes ago, swmohusker said:

We use this at our HS and it is awesome.  Being able to see the Tight copy and see fronts, movements and technique between drives is great.  Worst part is having video evidence of how bad the officiating is and not being able to do anything about it.  

Are you saying that your HS specifically uses Insight Replay? (Or some other system). Is it really affordable for even High Schools? I was thinking it had to be a fairly Big Ticket item.

 

Interesting: ‘A technological arms race:’ New replay devices widen the gap on high school sidelines

Edited November 30, 2017 by cheekygeek

[swmohusker]

3 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

Pretty difficult to do that here when our kids play both ways.

Yeah we 2 platoon, except for a couple of our cats that go both ways.  At least the coaches can get a good look at what is going on so you can have some adjustment in mind for half time.  

[swmohusker]

2 minutes ago, cheekygeek said:

Are you saying that your HS specifically uses Insight Replay? (Or some other system). Is it really affordable for even High Schools? I was thinking it had to be a fairly Big Ticket item.

We use Hudl Sideline which allows us to live game tag our data and stats from 2 iPads.  We have 4 iPads on the sideline for assistant coaches and we have 2 in the booth for our box coaches.  You can also hook it up to a monitor for your OL and DL.  It is awesome to have the game tagged as you are going so you dont have as much work to do on Saturday mornings.