SEC rules on iPad use on the sidelines are accompanied by differing opinions

Mississippi football coach Lane Kiffin was initially against it. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is looking forward to it. Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham thinks “it’s like cheating.” And Georgia quarterback Carson Beck? He would have liked it last year.

This season, the NCAA is allowing teams to use digital tablets to review game footage from the sidelines for the first time. And despite the differing opinions, there is a general consensus: The new technology could have a real impact on Saturdays.

Players and coaches agreed that their game plans will likely have to get more complicated – or risk being completely dismantled. For example, they will no longer be allowed to use the same few blitzes on the third attempt. The assistants, meanwhile, will have to figure out how to best use their new teaching tools. And fast.

In April, the NCAA adopted new technology rules that allow radio communication between coaches and players and the use of up to 18 active tablets in the coaches’ booth, sidelines and locker rooms. Unlike the NFL, where only still images are accessible, college teams can view video from the sidelines, end zone and broadcast camera feeds. However, they cannot view past scouting data and player analysis.

Some teams tested different versions of this technology during bowl games last year, but most will still be figuring out details after the season starts this Saturday.

After the rules were passed, conferences assembled their own partners. Some followed the NFL’s lead and brought Microsoft Surface devices into play, while the ACC, Big Ten and SEC opted for Apple’s iPad line. On the screen, several leagues are using DVSport Rewind technology to power the devices, but the SEC has chosen Catapult, a performance analytics platform already used by most top programs (and NFL teams) for player evaluations in practice.

“95% of Division I teams use our solution to manage coaching videos six days a week,” said Matt Bairos, Catapult’s chief product officer. “The seventh day was really missing.”

Here’s how the SEC’s system works. Video is distributed from a central hub to two private networks, one for each team. Catapult has hired nearly 50 game-day technicians (three per venue) to help implement the process.

Plays will be cut up and marked up for review based on the situation, allowing coaches on the sideline to select the right clips to show to players. Assistants in the locker room will also be able to mark specific moments for discussion on the sideline, and Apple Pencils will be available for telestration. System speed is a priority, Bairos said, to ensure plays are quickly cut up and sent to coaches where they can discuss the details with players.

Former head coach of Temple, Boston College and Colorado State, Steve Addazio – now an analyst at ESPN – has long been in favor of using this technology.

“I love it,” he said. “When I was involved in this field, I knew this was what I wanted to do most.”

In the past, Addazio had to rely on assistants upstairs to tell him what they were seeing. “When you go through every play, try to draw it on a grease board and basically reconstruct it – every time you did that, there was a mistake.”

And he has no concerns about coaches and players having to get used to a new workflow. “It’s very simple,” Addazio said. “You just watch the replays.”

The iPads feature a new “nano-textured glass” screen (normally a $100 upgrade) that allows for better visibility in the southern sun, and they are stored in specially built carts that are also adapted for hot environments. After the game, the edited footage can be immediately distributed to coaches and players with additional notes, evaluations and subjective information. Medical personnel also have access to the images during the game to identify and treat injuries.

LSU was one of the schools that tested the system last season during their 35-31 ReliaQuest Bowl win over Wisconsin.

“The real-time video provided by Catapult enabled our coaching staff to make better decisions during the game and communicate those decisions to our players,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said in a statement.

Over time, more data will likely be incorporated into the system, such as wearable player metrics and certain play calls. Bairos expects that video staff — once focused on camera operation and VCR tuning — will become closer to the traditional coaching staff in this case. It’s not hard to imagine Madden-style fatigue measurements and diagrams of opponents’ weak points appearing on tomorrow’s coaching iPads.

The coaching booths may not completely transform into Formula 1 garages, where millions of data points per second are transmitted to the pits and artificial intelligence influences strategic decisions, but it is difficult to imagine a reversal.

“I think it just continues to make the game a lot more interesting, exciting and challenging,” Bairos said.

Now it’s up to the coaches to keep up.