Most Valuable Player

Power, speed and reliability. The ability to manage large amounts of information and perform at a high level under pressure. Important characteristics of every successful football player, without a doubt.
These same characteristics can also be used to describe the modern football team’s most valuable technological tool – its video editing system. Since they were introduced in the mid-1990’s, digital editing systems have become indispensable tools for today’s sophisticated coaching staffs from high schools to the pros. Just as most everyone today can’t imagine how we ever survived without computers and cell phones, most coaches would be hard-pressed to envision preparing for games by cutting and splicing 16-millimeter game film.
But what are the most important features to look for in an editing system and which of the systems on the market today is, like your MVP, the fastest, most powerful and most reliable performer?
To answer these questions, AFM talked to an expert. Todd Marshall is an assistant coach and Coordinator of Football Technology at Texas High School in Texarkana which is one of northeast Texas’ most consistent winning programs. It’s Todd’s job to make sure that Head Coach Barry Norton and the rest of the Tiger coaching staff have the best and most up-to-date technology tools at their disposal – tools that will translate to wins. That’s why they chose the PowerEdit system from CoachComm for their video analysis needs.
Has the decision to go with PowerEdit paid off? According to Coach Norton, the answer is an unqualified yes. “As a result of implementing the PowerEdit system, our program is operating at a higher level,” said Norton. “Our coaches are able to be on the field more with our players, and film study has become much more efficient. The video editing process is now streamlined, allowing us to quickly turn statistics and tendencies into game plans and coaching points. Tiger Football would not be what it is today without CoachComm.”
AFM asked Todd Marshall to give us an in-depth look at PowerEdit and the features that make it such a valuable tool for Texas High School.

As a coach and technology coordinator of a high-profile program, how important is it for you to keep up with technological innovations that can help your teams keep winning?

It is extremely important to remain current with technological innovations in order to ensure our program’s continued success. With the technological advances today, there is always a new development to help us study, analyze, and prepare our program for success.

How has using the PowerEdit editing system from CoachComm helped you and your players succeed on the field?

Using the PowerEdit system from CoachComm has tremendously benefited our players, coaches, and program. Everything from inputting game film to analyzing data, tendencies, and stats are easier not only entering, but this simplicity speeds up the “breakdown” process. This allows coaches to establish a game plan and begin implementing it to our players immediately. We feel this increased preparation time is in direct correlation to our players’ success on game day. The user-friendliness of the PowerEdit system makes it possible for our coaches to get out of the film room and to our players, helping our team become more successful.

How long have you been using your PowerEdit editing system?

We have been using the PowerEdit system since CoachComm began distribution. Everyone at CoachComm, from our sales rep to customer service is second to none. We felt that if they were confident with the PowerEdit System, then we would be as well. To this day, it is still the best decision we’ve made regarding the technological aspect of our program.

How does your typical film analysis take place?

Our coaches are divided into groups. One group breaks down an opponent’s offense, while the other group breaks down the opponent’s defense. With the multiple editors and coaching stations we have, this is a process that only takes a few hours.
Next, and this is the coolest feature in my opinion, I come in and run the filters on the games. The batch filter feature is our favorite feature. Let me explain. Each coach has a folder with his name on it. After we complete all of the breakdowns, I, as video coordinator, go in and run batch filters on all of the data. We have numerous batch filters saved and each coach has been assigned a certain area or responsibility of tendencies to identify and study. With the batch filter feature, I have saved all of these filters and can go in and save each coach’s assigned breakdown in his folder, making it to where the only thing he has to do to is find the folder with his name on it and click it. This is very similar to how Windows is set up and makes for a very user-friendly system. All data and information is saved instantly in its required folder at the click of a mouse. After all breakdowns are studied, we are ready to show film to our players. With PowerEdit, we have the option to show film just about anywhere. We have meeting rooms set up with desktops hooked into a projector in order to show film to the majority of the team. The “text overlay” function is very useful here because it allows the players to see down and distance, field position, and other information, while watching the actual play. I believe this visual tool along with the verbal communication given by the coach conducting the meeting, offers players that are visual learners a means to relate this data to the actual play by giving them an idea on what can happen during certain situations in the game.

How do you utilize PowerEdit’s MPEG-4
capabilities and what are the advantages
of this format?

The MPEG-4 video is great for storage, transferring and speed. It allows us to save video at a fraction of its original size, so we can store it on less and not tie up money in extra storage and memory. Also, the speed at which video can be moved and transferred is amazing. Not all editing systems have the ability to utilize MPEG-4 video, however, so you might ask why we save something in MPEG-4 when we often cannot trade it. Well, PowerEdit comes through with a feature that allows us to convert MPEG-4 video to AVI, which is the most common type of video and can be stored on a hard drive and shared with other systems. The user-friendliness of PowerEdit is top notch – all of this is done with a few clicks of a mouse.

So much of the video we see today is high-definition and CoachComm has introduced HD video capability for PowerEdit. What is your initial reaction to HD for game film?

We are excited about moving to HD video. The video is so crisp and clear and it promises to be an excellent tool next season. We were blown away with the quality but it’s fast, too.

How would you rate CoachComm in terms
of customer service and tech support?

The service that CoachComm provides is second to none. As a video coordinator at a large Texas 4-A school for the past four years, I can say that I have run into one or two issues, but CoachComm’s customer support turned what I thought was major issue into just a blip. Every phone call I have ever made was either answered and the problem diagnosed and a solution found immediately or my call was returned in a very reasonable time. Everyone from our local sales rep to the guys working the phones dealing with issues on the frontline, as I like to put it, are always punctual and very eager to help. In my four years using CoachComm products such as PowerEdit, Connex headsets, EZ Cameras, etc., I have had the opportunity to work with these people in finding solutions and developed friendships as well. It’s good to know you can count on friends when you need assistance. p