TECH TEAM: Mater Dei's Khaled Holmes, the top uncommitted player in Orange County, is surrounded by technology in the Monarchs' football offices. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER KICKOFF '07 ON OCVARSITY.COMOnly here on ocvarsity.com: League and team previews and videos Also starting Tuesday: Division-by-division video previews and the ocvarsity.com top 25 |
High-tech football
Kickoff '07: Orange County teams turn to technology to keep pace
There's a new impact player in high school football.
The sensation can't actually make plays but will have an expanded role when the season begins this week with games Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
More and more programs in Orange County seem to be turning to this versatile contributor, which is changing the way teams scout opponents and market themselves and the way players are recruited by universities.
The force is technology.
High school football is more than ever becoming high-tech football.
"Technology now is off the charts," Mater Dei football coach Bruce Rollinson said. "It's basically college level."
Depending on the high school program, it might be even higher.
Rollinson's Monarchs are among the programs in Orange County whose scouting capabilities seem to have reached a professional standard.
"It's really no different," said Andrew Oldfield, vice president of the Digital Sports Video (DSV), the video editing software system employed by the Monarchs and county powerhouses such as Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo and Esperanza.
SCOUTING WELL
The DSV software allows teams to digitally edit game film and categorize plays according to infinite number of situations. With enough data, the software produces a scouting report complete with tendencies for just about every fathomable situation.
"Now, if I'm concentrating on first-and-10 run plays, I'll take all the data and it will list for me the most common run plays," Mater Dei defensive coordinator Dave Connor said.
"I can sit with the kids and in 10 minutes, get a lot of work done instead wasting time fast-forwarding to the next play."
Canyon football coach Brent McKee knows how valuable understanding a team's tendencies can be.
A couple months after falling to South Hills of West Covina, 21-14, in 2006 playoffs, he heard that South Hills had scouted the Comanches using DSV.
South Hills also uses Digital Scout software.
"We were scouted well," McKee recalled. "Our base stuff, they took away.' "
After the loss, McKee knew he wanted a video tool. During the summer, his football booster club paid about $15,000 for the DSV software and three computers.
"All things being equal, it could be the difference," McKee said of the video scouting. "Plus, it's fun to play with."
Esperanza was the first county school to use DSV, starting in the summer of 1999, Oldfield said. Santa Margarita and Mater Dei followed and now the smaller schools have joined the technology race at some level.
"All the small programs are stepping to the plate and doing it," South Hills coach Steve Bogan said.
Teams from Orange County can do more with the software than just scout. Mater Dei, for example, burns DVD "cutups" on opponents and gives them to its players for study at home.
Mater Dei quarterback Matt Barkley, for example, might receive footage of an opponent's coverage schemes and blitz packages.
"I pride myself on putting kids in best position to win," Rollinson said. "I think it helps you prepare that much more because there's no better tool than visually seeing it."
At Newport Harbor, assistant football coach and strength coach Tony Ciarelli uses the Dartfish software program to give his players a visual learning tool. The software tracks the motion and form of players while they lift weights.
And it's common for teams to film their own practices for self-scouting purposes.
"It's really important nowadays to see little things – not only (of) myself but just watch the defense," Barkley said. "I look at my mechanics – see what's good, what's bad. What to work on."
Even some of the county's small schools are keeping pace. At Whittier Christian, the Heralds recently bolstered their impressive capabilities with an end zone camera that cost approximately $7,000. Coach Jon Caffrey's program also is trying to find ways to get its footage onto video iPods.
Then there's Tustin coach Myron Miller. Considered a traditionalist who runs the double-wing offense, Miller has joined the new era.
"It's not about getting ahead of people anymore," he said. "It's about keeping up."
RECRUITING IMPACT
Video and Internet technology play an important role in the fast-paced world of college recruiting.
Senior running backs Derrick Coleman of Troy and Wes Fletcher of Valencia each said one of their most important steps in recruiting was putting together a highlight video. Coleman committed to UCLA in June.
"That was probably the best thing that everybody liked (and) got me noticed," said Coleman, who helped edit his video.
Some coaches using DSV now build player highlight videos as they break down game footage.
In an effort to make his video easily and quickly seen by recruiters, Fletcher posted his nine-minute highlight track on youtube.com.
With his video on the site, Fletcher, whose highlights also appear on ocvarsity.com, simply E-mailed potential schools a link showing his best runs.
Web exposure on recruiting sites such as rivals.com and scout.com also is vital for players who aren't at a high school in the spotlight. Powerhouses with huge recruiting budgets might not need that kind of help to find talent, but smaller schools often will spot potential targets for scholarships on the Web before they invest in a trip.
For the first time last season, Santa Margarita used its Web site – eaglesfootball.com – to Web cast most of its games. The broadcasts featured announcers, commercials and alumni updates.
"That was huge for the program in terms of our marketing and fan base," Santa Margarita football coach Mike Jacot said.
"For high school football to have that kind of stuff, that's pretty impressive."
Sometimes too much technology can be a viewed as a bad thing. The NCAA, for example, has banned Division I programs from text messaging recruits. But before the ban went into place Aug. 1, Mater Dei senior offensive lineman Khaled Holmes experienced the technological realities of being a sought-after recruit.
"It was very useful," said Holmes, whose brother, Alex, played at USC. "It allows a lot of schools to get in contact with you."
But Holmes, who hasn't committed, said receiving text messages also became a bit overwhelming. He remembers once receiving what seemed to be text messages from each member of a coaching staff within a span of less than a minute.
"It was pretty funny," said Holmes, who declined to reveal the tech-savvy school.
TECHNO WORLD
Aside from the NCAA's text-messaging ban, technology seems here to stay. Ciarelli doubts any school in Orange County completely ignores video or technology.
He joked that if the Sailors were to discover such a non-technology team, they'll call to schedule a game.
Or they could send an E-mail or text message. Click.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
