November 1, 2024
UPDATE
Advancing the game: iPad teams up with college football
New nano-textured display glass with support for Apple Pencil Pro allows iPad Pro with M4 to seamlessly integrate into the sideline and bring new possibilities to coaches and players
Passionate tailgaters replenish their bowls of jambalaya, a Geaux Tigers banner catches a rare breeze in the Louisiana heat, enthusiastic students begin to fill the stands and more than a dozen iPad Pros line the field during game day in Baton Rouge.
While the revelry and Cajun cooking are longstanding traditions at Tiger Stadium, the iPad on the sidelines is brand new: In April of this year, the NCAA approved a rule allowing college football teams to have up to 18 active tablets on hand for use on the sidelines, in the coaching booth and in the locker room during matches. Taking advantage of this new rule, three conferences, the ACC, SEC and Big Ten, chose the iPad for their game day needs, including in-game video recording from the sideline and end zone, as well as any broadcast feeds.
The new iPad Pro with nano-texture display technology is incredible, says Doug Aucoin, video director at Louisiana State University. If the nano-textured glass on the new iPad Pro were not available, it would be almost impossible to view images on the new iPad Pro. field with the glare that comes from the sun.
Combating the natural elements, especially glare, was a primary concern among college football personnel and required technology unique to what the NFL uses for sidelines. During games in the NFL, teams only have access to still images instead of video. Fortunately, iPad Pro's new nano-textured glass maintains image quality and contrast while diffusing ambient light for reduced glare, creating a solution well-suited for outdoor video viewing.
Aucoin, who has been called the godfather of SEC video coordinators and became a 2022 inductee into the College Sports Video Associations Sports Film and Video Hall of Fame, has had a front-row seat to the technological evolution in college football. He remembers that when he started working at LSU in 1997, one of the administrative assistants in the football office still had a typewriter on her desk. Today, he oversees a sophisticated game-day system that links the iPad to sports software so coaches can get their hands on video footage within seconds of the end of a game.
Catapult, a sports performance analytics company, is the software provider for all teams in the SEC. Here's how the in-game video happens: Each team has its own independent videographers filming the end zone and sideline, and they also have access to the broadcast feed. Then each team has a staff member who records the play, which means they tag play actions with details such as down, distance, attack, defense, the phase of the kicking game and runs or passes that can be used for analysis later.
While they are tagging, we are in the background chopping the video clips, syncing them and sending the video packages to iPads located both in the coach's press box and on the sidelines, says Matt Bairos, Chief Catapults Product Officer.
The end result is an in-game video solution that allows players to make adjustments the next time they take the field.
The ACC and Big Ten have partnered with a software company called DVSport for in-game video. During these conferences, a central replay technician records the game, and the home team sets the sideline and end zone corners.
The partnership between DVSports and Apple is a great example of how new software and hardware work together to deliver breakthrough solutions, said Brian Lowe, president and CEO of DVSports. Equivalence, speed and high visibility are core components of the solution, and Apple's latest iPad Pro and iPad Air truly excel in delivering a simple and elegant end-user experience.
Having the iPad on the sidelines makes coaching much more effective in the game, says Mike Saffell, the tight ends coach at the University of California, Berkeley. Live feedback ensures that players and coaches can make quick corrections. It also makes the game more competitive as both teams can solve problems on game day.
Cal's starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza agrees. Before, there were a lot of things we couldn't see until after the game, so it's great to have that coaching on the sidelines. When you're on the field, football is the same football. But when you're not on the field, you can now go with the coaches, make adjustments, be coached and then get back into the game, which has helped the development of young players tremendously, he says.
As for integrating the new technology, both Bairos and several coaches credit the fame of iPad for making the process seamless. It's easy to use and it's a familiar interface. There is no learning curve, he says. We can put an iPad with our software in the hands of the coaches and they will be self-sufficient. They understand how to use the iPad and they understand the touch elements.
Billy Glasscock, general manager of Ole Miss, points out that Apple Pencil Pro is an added benefit of using the iPad. If we ever try to install a game based on an in-game look, the Catapult app has a whiteboard feature that we can use to draw with Apple Pencil Pro or our fingertips. There is also the option to draw over the video clip, he says.
The rollout to players was also seamless, given the players' familiarity with iPad. They grew up with these things in their hands, said University of Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal.
Mirabal found the iPad especially useful during a close game against Cal in October, when the Hurricanes came from 25 points down to win by one. We gave up a sack on the sixth play of the game. So after the series I was able to show the offensive line. Look, this is what got us, he says. If we get this look again, we should handle the situation as follows. And later in the game they brought the exact same blitz look and boom, we picked it up. So it's very, very useful. Mirabal adds that players often take the iPad to assess for themselves, especially during halftime.
Where's the iPad? Where's the iPad? That's the first thing we really do as soon as we get out, said Isaiah Horton, a wide receiver for Miami. Horton points out that iPad devices are not only more efficient, but also help with coordination between players. It has that visual piece there instead of just saying, Hey, this is what I saw, but I don't really know what you saw, because quarterbacks are looking at one half of the field, and I'm looking at the whole other side of the field.
In the long term, Horton sees in-game iPad use changing the game for the better by keeping players and coaches on the same page. Mendoza sees a more strategy-driven game, and Glasscock foresees more complexity, with teams bringing extra plays into games, knowing they may only be able to try something once before an opponent corrects for it. Mirabal sees a game that is generally played at a higher level.
It's just a matter of us, as coaches, not being afraid to continue bringing technology into the game, Mirabal says. But I don't think I do know that iPad use on the sidelines has greatly influenced the game in a positive way. There is not a single coach in America who would say it has been negative.
For Aucoin, there's an added layer of witnessing the impact iPad makes on the sidelines. His father, Erby Aucoin, who became the NFL's first full-time film director when the New Orleans Saints hired him in 1967, pioneered in-game reviews when he devised a system of taking Polaroid photos from the coaching booth and then slide them along a wire to the sideline for review.
It went from the Polaroid cameras to thermal printers and now we have evolved to the iPads with full video in the game, says Aucoin. And you know, my father was the first to do that many years ago. So it's kind of a proud moment for me to be able to see the evolution of this whole thing.
Press Contacts
Tara Courtney
Apple
[email protected]
Apple Media Helpline
[email protected]
