Huskers Use Huddle to Gain Edge

2 comments so far August 7, 2008 by Tom Cudd

Bo Pelini is the type of coach who squeezes every bit of effort from his staff and players, but there is only so much you can do to impart football wisdom. That's where Agile Sports comes in with Huddle. Pelini now has a tool available at Internet's reach to pass on his vast insights quickly and efficiently to the other coaches and his players. Up to 150 Huskers can get connected to this system in order to analyze footage, play selection, and communications between the staff, and everything you can find about upcoming opponents.

Last month, David Graff, Chief Executive Officer of Agile Sports Technologies, Inc. answered some of my questions about Huddle. Agile Sports has put years of thought and development into this product. A product like this does not just appear overnight, but it does take a pebble to start a rock slide.

“We presented a demo to Coach Callahan, Coach Jay Norvell, and Coach Randy Jordan back in February of 2006 and their strong interest in the product is what pushed us to form a company,� Graff explained. “They actually wanted it for use with spring football in 2006. Unfortunately, we could not provide a stable, fully-integrated product for them in that short of window, but they remained committed to helping us push forward for a 2007 release.�

Fostering relationships with coaches is critical when trying to develop a useful tool. “Working in the Sports Information office provided me with a great connection with the coaching staff and an opportunity to learn firsthand the challenges that they were facing that could potentially be solved by software,� said Graff. “The coaching staff’s familiarity and comfort level from having worked with me before definitely helped legitimize our group.�

That familiarity is probably the reason they have built such an efficient process. They know what coaches need in product like this. “Teams that have implemented Huddle are already experiencing saving from reducing their printing needs and effectively eliminating the need to burn DVDs for players,� Graff explained. “These saving come not only in hard material costs, but also in time savings for staff members that were previously spending time burning 100+ DVDs each week, and battling copy machine jams as they compiled paper playbooks and printed presentations.�

Right now, no other product can compile the hours worth of video, charts, graphs, and information direct from the coaches in one organized location. Huddle can help Nebraska get a leg up on the competition. The time savings of using this system means more players get access to more information faster than ever. The players can check for updates or “homework� every day. Coaches can send out directed messages to the players to check out an updated scheme or an area that may need work.

The flexible platform created by Agile Sport could allow high schools, other colleges, and even professional sports to utilize this framework. Huddle is not just tied down to football either. It can be adapted to fit almost any sport. Because it is all web based, it gives the user the advantage of not needing to update the software, so that way coaches can focus on what they do best: teaching their players how best to play the game.

Related: Read more on Huddle from The New York Times, Lincoln Journal Star, and The Omaha World Herald.

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