By Moses Leos III

There was a time when high school football coaches convened in parking lots late after Friday games to exchange film to study their opposition. 

Gone are the halcyon days of trading film reels and videocassettes.

As technology has continued to advance, the art of football scouting moves along with it.

For Hays CISD head varsity high school football coaches Todd Raymond and Neal LaHue, taking advantage of the digital age has changed the way football is studied.

“We got to a certain point and once we started to go digital, once we started to get to that digital point, it exponentially took off,” Raymond said.

The most recent advance for both Hays CISD high school football programs was the inclusion of drone technology during practices. 

LaHue and his coaching staff at Hays were the first to implement drones, which they began using during the summer practice schedule.

The school’s initial drone, which belonged to assistant coach Mitch Phillips, gave the team a “great shot” of the field of play. LaHue said the team used the drone sparingly, as the battery capacity ran out quickly.

But LaHue said the drone is a great teaching tool, as it gets on top of the drill coaches are videotaping. Through Hays CISD, the Hays football team has since purchased a second drone for its use.

“As far as the shot, that’s the thing that struck me the most,” LaHue said. “It’s right on top of the play. It’s like you’re in the stadium and looking straight down on top of the players.”

Raymond said the Lobos began using a drone at practices following their scrimmage against Pflugerville Hendrickson this summer.

While Raymond said he “was not big” on drone footage initially, he saw its significance after viewing video from the Hendrickson scrimmage.

“It’s good for our back-in guys, our big picture guys,” Raymond said.

The team, through the district, purchased its drone and began using it prior to the scrimmage against Pflugerville Connally.

Raymond said the drone gives the team a “cool perspective and a cool angle.” It’s also mobile and goes wherever the operator wants it to.

In addition, both teams have had students go through training to operate the drone during practices. Assistant coaches also help with drone operation during practices.

For Raymond, the drones are additions to the ever-growing list of digital scouting enhancements coaches have at their disposal.

One of the primary advances is the use of Hudl, which is an online video editing system.

Raymond said game and practice film is uploaded to Hudl servers. According to the Hudl website, the service allows coaches to edit and share video, study lay diagrams and create highlight reels.

The service has more than 114,000 actives teams using it and nearly 3.5 million unique users, according to the Hudl website.

“That’s how we trade film. Every school in Texas uses that system and trades through that system,” Raymond said. “The days of meeting in a parking lot at 12:30 in the morning are gone.”

Raymond foresees virtual reality playing a possible role for football coaches in the future.

“Three years ago, I couldn’t have told you we’d have a drone at practice,” Raymond said.