Breaking down opponents: Tech coaches take time to examine everything Published Oct. 25, 2009 By Ethan Conley etconley@thenewsstar.com RUSTON -- At some point this season Louisiana Tech will inevitably line up for a make-or-break play. The offense may need to pick up seven yards on third down to keep a fourth-quarter drive alive, or the defense may need to stop the opposition short on fourth-and-goal. It'll be the difference between winning and losing, and it's going to be a lot easier for the Bulldogs to make the right play if they already have an idea of what's coming. For every opponent Tech takes on this season, each member of its coaching staff will have spent between 80 and 100 hours on the clock, creating a game plan that will -- hopefully -- put the players in the best position to succeed in those key moments. "It just goes toward having faith in our coaching staff -- complete and total faith," senior quarterback Ross Jenkins said. "I think they have us every bit as prepared as they can. Every week I feel like we're more prepared than any other team." The coaching staff's preparation begins on Sunday in a typical game week, when it assembles to watch a few of the upcoming opponent's games in their entirety. The offensive and defensive coaches watch the film together to get a general feel for the team they'll be facing. After the group film session, each coach is assigned a specific area of the film break down. "We literally take every area, and we have a pretty structured way of doing it," head coach Derek Dooley said. "...One coach will study short yardage, one will study all their blitzes and pressure packages, another will study coverages, and then we present that big picture to the team." But it's not like each coach is handed a stack of VHS tapes and has fast forward to his assigned plays. Technology has made the process a little more streamlined than that. DOOLEY CAN RECALL watching his father, former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, cutting strips of game film by hand and grouping them together for later study by taping them to a wall. When the younger Dooley moved on to a playing career at Virginia in the late 1980s, and then to his first coaching jobs in the mid-1990s, VHS and Betamax were the medium of choice. By the time he was an assistant at LSU (2000-04) under Nick Saban, everything was digital. The transition to digital mediums practically reinvented the wheel as far as game planning and film study is concerned.

"Oh my God, you could do a whole story on how technology has changed football," Dooley said. "... It's a really fascinating area that nobody would ever realize the depth of the technology." A physical exchange of game film is now a rarity. Opponents instead trade film over the Internet, and usually without hassle. All teams within the Western Athletic Conference are required to share game film, and for out-of-conference games, Dooley said 95 to 99 percent of opposing coaches honor a friendly college football agreement to trade game film. There's really no point in being uncooperative, because one way or another, the coaching staff will get its hands on the film it needs. Dooley said Tech has "never not had film," even for games like the season opener against Auburn, when the Tigers were playing their first game under a completely overhauled coaching regime. There's no hard, fast rule for how many games Tech will use for its film study, but in general, the more film the better. "You want as large of numbers as possible for good data," Dooley said. "You can't draw conclusions on one game. The more data you get, the more absolutes you can make." It's not as simple as taking the most recent sample of games. Tech needs film that will give the best simulation of the upcoming matchup. For instance, when the Bulldogs get ready for next week's game against Idaho, it won't be of much use to study what the Idaho defense did against Hawaii, because Hawaii's offense -- featuring four or five wide receivers and 60 passes per game -- is nothing like Tech's. The same goes for defensive game planning. There's not much use in analyzing what Idaho does against a 3-4 defense, because Tech runs a 4-3. "The biggest trick is trying to figure out what they're going to do to you," Dooley said. Once film is exchanged, it is uploaded to video editing software specifically designed for football. Tech recently invested in a new video editing system, and its database -- maintained by video coordinator David Snyder -- uses about 30 different fields of information to label each play, such as down, distance, field position, formation, run or pass, etc. "Then you can use all those fields, and pull up all the third-and-threes, third-and-sixes, all the powers, all of this formation, and use it for segmental study," Dooley said. That's what makes the division of labor among coaches so easy. There's no wading through a series of game tapes for a specific type of play. Hundreds of plays -- the exact plays each coach needs -- are at their fingertips. "You can't function without it," Dooley said. THE PLAYERS HAVE Sunday off. When they join the coaching staff for a team meeting on Monday, they spend about an hour reviewing film from the previous game, move on to an hour-long film overview of the upcoming opponent -- gathered from the coaches' Sunday film study -- and then hit the practice field for about two hours. After practice the coaching staff meets to hammer out the game plan for first and second down, looking for plays that will give the Bulldogs the best chance for success in those situations. Those pages of the playbook become the focus of Tuesday's team meetings and practice.

Then the process repeats for remaining portions of the game plan. Wednesday is for third down and red zone plays; Thursday is for goal line, two-point conversions, the two-minute drill, and other unique game situations. "There are so many different segments," Dooley said. "You figure out what you do well, and during the course of the week, you present that information each day." Installing the game plan in segments is a necessity. Even with all the time they invest studying film, they'd never be able to have a whole game plan ready at the beginning of the week. Even if they did, it'd be too much information for the players to handle at once. "You can't do it all in one night, and you can't practice everything, and you're installing all this different stuff," Dooley said. "You can't throw an entire game plan at 18-year-olds." Fridays are usually limited to a walk-through, and for away games it's the travel day. Players are often given written tests on Friday, but those are more a final review of the game plan than a pass/fail exercise. Dooley said every play in practice serves as its own quiz, teaching the players the game plan through repetition. By the time Saturday rolls around, there's not much left that Tech can to do in the way of preparation. "There's never as much time as you like," Dooley said. "You've got 20 hours (with the team). You take three hours for the game, and that leaves you with five days and about 3 ½ hours per day. It's not a lot." The Bulldogs just have to put faith in the game plan they've built and practiced during the week. "It always gives you that one little edge," sophomore linebacker Adrien Cole said. Win or lose, the game plan isn't dead when the Saturday's game ends. It goes through an extensive review from the coaching staff. "We evaluate our plan, and I have every coordinator write down what we did well, what we did poorly, and schematic issues," Dooley said. "Every week we do quality control. If it wasn't any good, how do we avoid it and keep it from happening again? We're constantly analyzing both the opponent and ourselves." Then it's back to square one, 80-100 hours of work in store for each coach, trying to find the edge that will make the difference in a play that will be over in a matter of seconds. Note: The following was included with the above story as a breakout. 'I just rewind and rewind' Louisiana Tech players study film with the coaching staff during team meetings, but they're also given the opportunity to study on their own. Each week players receive a DVD full of the upcoming opponent's game film.

Head coach Derek Dooley's hope is that his players will study the personnel they'll be lining up against, looking for tendencies and keys and anything that might give them an edge. But he admits that college players aren't particularly diligent when it comes to studying film independently. "It comes with maturity -- you'd be amazed at what the pro guys do, and the investment they put into film study," he said. There are some Bulldogs who make the most of the technology. "After I get done with my homework, I sit there with my DVD player and just rewind and rewind," sophomore linebacker Adrien Cole said. "The rewind button on my remote is jammed from watching so much."

--Ethan Conley

Datestamp: 10/25/2009

Breaking down opponents: Tech coaches take time to examine everything

RUSTON ? At some point this season Louisiana Tech will inevitably line up for a make−or−break play. Theoffense may need to pick up seven yards on third down to keep a fourth−quarter drive alive, or the defensemay need to stop the opposition short on fourth−and−goal.

It'll be the difference between winning and losing, and it's going to be a lot easier for the Bulldogs to make theright play if they already have an idea of what's coming.

For every opponent Tech takes on this season, each member of its coaching staff will have spent between 80and 100 hours on the clock, creating a game plan that will ? hopefully ? put the players in the best position tosucceed in those key moments.

"It just goes toward having faith in our coaching staff −− complete and total faith," senior quarterback RossJenkins said. "I think they have us every bit as prepared as they can. Every week I feel like we're moreprepared than any other team."

The coaching staff's preparation begins on Sunday in a typical game week, when it assembles to watch a fewof the upcoming opponent's games in their entirety. The offensive and defensive coaches watch the filmtogether to get a general feel for the team they'll be facing. After the group film session, each coach isassigned a specific area of the film break down.

"We literally take every area, and we have a pretty structured way of doing it," head coach Derek Dooley said."...One coach will study short yardage, one will study all their blitzes and pressure packages, another willstudy coverages, and then we present that big picture to the team."

But it's not like each coach is handed a stack of VHS tapes and has fast forward to his assigned plays.Technology has made the process a little more streamlined than that.

DOOLEY CAN RECALL watching his father, former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, cutting strips of gamefilm by hand and grouping them together for later study by taping them to a wall. When the younger Dooleymoved on to a playing career at Virginia in the late 1980s, and then to his first coaching jobs in themid−1990s, VHS and Betamax were the medium of choice. By the time he was an assistant at LSU (2000−04)under Nick Saban, everything was digital.

The transition to digital mediums practically reinvented the wheel as far as game planning and film study isconcerned.

"Oh my God, you could do a whole story on how technology has changed football," Dooley said. "... It's areally fascinating area that nobody would ever realize the depth of the technology."

1

A physical exchange of game film is now a rarity. Opponents instead trade film over the Internet, and usuallywithout hassle. All teams within the Western Athletic Conference are required to share game film, and forout−of−conference games, Dooley said 95 to 99 percent of opposing coaches honor a friendly college footballagreement to trade game film. There's really no point in being uncooperative, because one way or another, thecoaching staff will get its hands on the film it needs. Dooley said Tech has "never not had film," even forgames like the season opener against Auburn, when the Tigers were playing their first game under acompletely overhauled coaching regime.

There's no hard, fast rule for how many games Tech will use for its film study, but in general, the more filmthe better.

"You want as large of numbers as possible for good data," Dooley said. "You can't draw conclusions on onegame. The more data you get, the more absolutes you can make."

It's not as simple as taking the most recent sample of games. Tech needs film that will give the best simulationof the upcoming matchup. For instance, when the Bulldogs get ready for next week's game against Idaho, itwon't be of much use to study what the Idaho defense did against Hawaii, because Hawaii's offense ?featuring four or five wide receivers and 60 passes per game ? is nothing like Tech's. The same goes fordefensive game planning. There's not much use in analyzing what Idaho does against a 3−4 defense, becauseTech runs a 4−3.

"The biggest trick is trying to figure out what they're going to do to you," Dooley said.

Once film is exchanged, it is uploaded to video editing software specifically designed for football. Techrecently invested in a new video editing system, and its database ? maintained by video coordinator DavidSnyder −− uses about 30 different fields of information to label each play, such as down, distance, fieldposition, formation, run or pass, etc.

"Then you can use all those fields, and pull up all the third−and−threes, third−and−sixes, all the powers, all ofthis formation, and use it for segmental study," Dooley said.

That's what makes the division of labor among coaches so easy. There's no wading through a series of gametapes for a specific type of play. Hundreds of plays ? the exact plays each coach needs −− are at theirfingertips.

"You can't function without it," Dooley said.

THE PLAYERS HAVE Sunday off. When they join the coaching staff for a team meeting on Monday, theyspend about an hour reviewing film from the previous game, move on to an hour−long film overview of theupcoming opponent ? gathered from the coaches' Sunday film study ? and then hit the practice field for abouttwo hours. After practice the coaching staff meets to hammer out the game plan for first and second down,looking for plays that will give the Bulldogs the best chance for success in those situations. Those pages of theplaybook become the focus of Tuesday's team meetings and practice.

Then the process repeats for remaining portions of the game plan. Wednesday is for third down and red zoneplays; Thursday is for goal line, two−point conversions, the two−minute drill, and other unique gamesituations.

"There are so many different segments," Dooley said. "You figure out what you do well, and during thecourse of the week, you present that information each day."

2

Installing the game plan in segments is a necessity. Even with all the time they invest studying film, they'dnever be able to have a whole game plan ready at the beginning of the week. Even if they did, it'd be too muchinformation for the players to handle at once.

"You can't do it all in one night, and you can't practice everything, and you're installing all this differentstuff," Dooley said. "You can't throw an entire game plan at 18−year−olds."

Fridays are usually limited to a walk−through, and for away games it's the travel day. Players are often givenwritten tests on Friday, but those are more a final review of the game plan than a pass/fail exercise. Dooleysaid every play in practice serves as its own quiz, teaching the players the game plan through repetition.

By the time Saturday rolls around, there's not much left that Tech can to do in the way of preparation.

"There's never as much time as you like," Dooley said. "You've got 20 hours (with the team). You take threehours for the game, and that leaves you with five days and about 3 ½ hours per day. It's not a lot."

The Bulldogs just have to put faith in the game plan they've built and practiced during the week.

"It always gives you that one little edge," sophomore linebacker Adrien Cole said.

Win or lose, the game plan isn't dead when the Saturday's game ends. It goes through an extensive reviewfrom the coaching staff.

"We evaluate our plan, and I have every coordinator write down what we did well, what we did poorly, andschematic issues," Dooley said. "Every week we do quality control. If it wasn't any good, how do we avoid itand keep it from happening again? We're constantly analyzing both the opponent and ourselves."

Then it's back to square one, 80−100 hours of work in store for each coach, trying to find the edge that willmake the difference in a play that will be over in a matter of seconds.

'I just rewind and rewind'

By Ethan Conley

etconley@thenewsstar.com

Louisiana Tech players study film with the coaching staff during team meetings, but they're also given theopportunity to study on their own. Each week players receive a DVD full of the upcoming opponent's gamefilm.

Head coach Derek Dooley's hope is that his players will study the personnel they'll be lining up against,looking for tendencies and keys and anything that might give them an edge. But he admits that college playersaren't particularly diligent when it comes to studying film independently.

"It comes with maturity ? you'd be amazed at what the pro guys do, and the investment they put into filmstudy," he said.

There are some Bulldogs who make the most of the technology.

"After I get done with my homework, I sit there with my DVD player and just rewind and rewind,"

3

sophomore linebacker Adrien Cole said. "The rewind button on my remote is jammed from watching somuch."

4