Hudl’s school-wide solution allows coaches at this Texas high school to work smarter. 

Randy Barnes has a lot on his plate as head football coach and athletic director at Texas’s Farmersville High School. That’s why Hudl’s athletic department package was an easy choice for his program. “Hudl saves us time and makes us better,” he said. 

Texas high school athletics are a competitive landscape, and developing a program starts at the junior high level—if not before. With that in mind, Barnes turned to the athletic department package to help even the playing field. “If you’re not top-notch in the premier package with Hudl, your kids are losing exposure, and the AD and head coaches are losing an opportunity to make money,” he said. “It’s just a no-brainer.”

From Assist to the Athletic Department Package

Barnes started using Hudl Assist more than five years ago, and he’s been sold on Hudl ever since. Assist has been a crucial time-saver for him and his staff. He’s developed a routine—they’ll submit their two previous games on a Wednesday, and get them back fully broken down by Thursday morning. 

Having data like down and distance, play type and formation has been invaluable for the Farmersville coaches. So has the precise nature of Assist. “They begin to know our formations—we don’t have to change anything by week 8,” he said. Getting this level of timely and accurate data allows them to reinvest their time to prepare for their opponents down the road. 

A Solution for All Sports

With his position as both head coach and AD, he has a wide-ranging perspective on the benefits that the athletic department package has brought. For him and his fellow coaches, the full complement of products have allowed them to allocate their time more efficiently. “As coaches, we’re gonna work hard, but we’re also gonna work smarter. And that’s what Hudl has allowed us to do,” he said. 

When he puts his athletic director hat on, it’s clear that the benefits of the department-wide package extend to sports beyond football. Coaches across the program have especially raved about the ease with which they’ve been able to film practices. 

“I want every sport to be treated the same,” Barnes said. “I want the volleyball, basketball coaches to have the same access that I do. And they do. Because video is the best coaching tool that we have.”

Livestreaming as a Fundraiser

With video being such a point of emphasis at Farmersville, the Focus camera has been exactly the filming and livestreaming solution the Fightin’ Farmers were looking for. 

“It gets out into the community,” Barnes explained. “Grandma in Ohio can watch Johnny Joe play 7th-grade B team football. Do you know what a big deal that is? It’s huge!” 

This community outreach also brings potential fundraising benefits. “Now, when we want help for our programs, Aunt Gracie won’t have a problem sending that [check] in.” They’re looking to monetize their livestream—they plan to start selling sponsorships for both the indoor and outdoor cameras in 2022. 

Having quality video readily available has also been critical to the growth of Farmersville’s athletes. “Our kids are watching film on their own every night. And I can track that, “ Barnes said. “It helps us.”

Hudl Is on Our Team

Barnes paints a picture of the athletic department package as an all-encompassing solution that uplifts all areas of his program—from the X’s and O’s to the Johnny Joes. 

“We’re selling Farmersville High School in everything we do and Hudl is a huge part of that,” he said. “Hudl is on our team at Farmersville.” 

Is your school looking to level up your athletic programs? Hudl’s athletic department package is the one solution for every team.

Cohesion and col­lab­o­ra­tion is the name of the game at the Kinkaid School, thanks to Hudl’s Athletic Department Package.

Houston’s Kinkaid School isn’t a typical school. It’s one of the country’s top-ranked private schools that puts students through a rigorous academic program. This creates a culture of hard work that extends to the athletic fields, according to assistant athletic director and head football coach Nathan Larned.

“When they get to football, or any of their sports, they’re ready to give it everything they have—it’s just the culture of the school,” he explained. 

A Season to Season Solution

To give these driven athletes the tools they need to succeed, Kinkaid uses Hudl’s athletic department package. Arguably the biggest benefit it’s brought so far? Cohesion. 

“All the sports use the same software,” said Larned. “It used to be kind of fractured [before Hudl], and we used different software across different sports. Now it translates across sports.”

This continuity is especially key to the coaches. “Most of our coaches coach multiple sports, so they’re able to use the same software from season to season without a huge adjustment. It’s very convenient for the entire department to be on the same package on the same program,” said Larned. 

Elevating an Entire Program

The effects have been tangible across the department. Larned points to lacrosse (both boys’ and girls’), and field hockey as sports that have benefited the most from the athletic department package. “Now that we have it, they’re so much more involved in studying film. It elevated our coaches and players’ knowledge of their sport,” said Larned. “Having [Hudl] elevated our staff.”

It’s not just every sport that benefits from the AD package. Athletes at all levels do too. The simplicity of the Focus cameras have allowed Kinkaid to film and stream all their games—both indoors and outdoors—at all grade levels. Every student-athlete has the teaching tape they need to learn and improve.

A Stream For All Teams

Historically, it was a complicated process for Kinkaid to livestream anything outside of varsity sports. It was tricky to find someone to film the games and have all the necessary equipment set up. Focus has been a game-changer for them. 

“Because it was so simple to just put in the schedule and turn it on, we were able to stream [games] across all grade levels,” said Larned. “It’s hugely convenient, especially for practices and sub-varsity games. Everybody’s been using it for every single contest. It’s fantastic—we love it.” 

Many schools are choosing to monetize their livestreams with Hudl Focus, but Kinkaid opted to offer access for free. “We don’t charge people to come to our games, so we weren’t going to charge them to watch a stream,” said Larned. It was extremely useful, especially during the pandemic, to get their games out to anyone who wanted to watch. 

Growth and Unity

One of Kinkaid’s fundamental athletic principles is “nurturing individual growth while building team unity.” It’s easy to see how the athletic department package is helping them do that. 

Having all teams at all levels able to access practice and game film has been key to their individual growth. And as for unity? With the whole department using the same solution, unity isn’t just team-wide—it’s program-wide. 

Looking to level up your athletic department? Hudl’s athletic department package has the tools to set your program up for success.

[Learn More About Hudl Athletic Department Packages]

It wasn’t easy to squeeze Hudl into the budget, but Spring Valley (N.Y.) athletic director William Pilla is certainly glad he did.

William Pilla was in a real pickle.

When Spring Valley (N.Y.) football coach Andrew Delva approached him about adding Hudl a few years ago, he strongly wanted to say yes. As a former football coach and now the school’s athletic director, Pilla knew how much video would help both the team’s record and the odds players would receive college offers, a pipe dream for many outside of athletics.

But Spring Valley’s budget was already stretched thin. The school has no booster club to turn to, and any additional costs would either come out of the coaches’ pockets or from whatever funds they could raise.

Pilla decided the sacrifice was worth it, and he was right. The coaches have seen the benefits of Hudl firsthand. More players are finding paths to college careers and the whole program is in a better place with video incorporated.

“Pretty much everyone else within our county has a booster club that can pay for this and pay for that. We do not,” Pilla said. “Money that is raised is from my football coach getting different things and putting things on social media. We don’t take (Hudl) for granted one bit. We’re just so happy to be able to have all that stuff that every other school has.”

Pilla was so pleased with Hudl that he added Hudl Sideline and got the basketball team hooked up as well. The coaches have improved the depth of their scouting reports, better preparing the Tigers for games.

More important has been the development players experienced from studying the video. Many of Spring Valley’s athletes aren’t introduced to the sport until middle or high school, giving them a steeper learning curve than their counterparts at other schools. The video helps bridge that gap and the Tigers can’t get enough.

“They’re always wanting to learn more,” Pilla said. “It’s like Christmas when the coaches send out the video to everybody. Now our film sessions are them trying to get themselves better because they’ve been able to watch themselves over and over again. It’s allowed them to create a higher football IQ.”

But Pilla’s favorite benefit is the way the players’ highlights have helped get them on more college coaches’ radars. Athletes who wouldn’t have otherwise had a chance at a college education are now getting noticed.

And while Spring Valley is placing players in Division I programs, their eyes have been opened to possibilities at the Division II and III levels as well.

“Hudl has helped our coach have a vision and say, ‘Going anywhere to play college football is a great thing because you’re playing the game that you love and you’re getting a higher education,’” Pilla said. “We used to have real difficulty getting our kids to buy in to play at the Division II and Division III levels.

“With kids seeing the highlights and seeing through football that they can make it to the next level, we have really created a culture here. It’s enabled our kids to see their hard work and dedication really come through to getting them some money and into some schools they wouldn’t have even thought of.”

Adding Hudl originally seemed like wishful thinking, but it’s turned out to be a massive blessing for Spring Valley and its athletes. The coaches are learning more and the athletes are developing and receiving previously-undiscovered opportunities to continue their education.

“We can’t function without it,” Pilla said. “It really was a godsend.”

Use these ideas to help manage players who challenge your team culture.

“We’re the first time that a parent hears that their son isn’t good enough. How you deliver that and how you handle your players and how you develop respect and trust with your players is where it all starts.”Gabe Infante, head football coach at St. Joseph Prep (Pa.)

The Athletic Department Package gives Willis High School the teaching tape they need to win.  

In Michael Wall’s role as athletic director and head football coach at Willis High School, he’s constantly searching for ways to improve his athletic department. Obtaining and using video has been at the center of those efforts. “Video is extremely important in everything we do. We win with video,” he said. 

Wall chose Hudl’s athletic department package to give athletes across the program the tools they need to win. It’s been instrumental in getting them the quality video that they use to teach their players. They’ve even increased their storage capacity so they can retain and access film from past years. “We go back and evaluate things, or to remember an old play,” said Wall. “Just having that capability to help our teams win is a great advantage for us.”

A Streamlined Weekend
Not only are they getting the video that they need, they’re getting it in easier fashion. “Every practice and game we had was such a production to get someone to film,” Wall said. Hudl Focus has freed up managers who used to film the games to perform other important tasks. 

Hudl Assist has also been a massive time-saver for the Willis program. Having the Assist data broken down in a timely and accurate manner is a key complement to their Focus film, which can be sorted by categories like down and distance. Prior to having Assist, they had their middle school staff enter all that data manually. “It creates a more efficient system,” Wall explained. “It helps streamline our weekend and get the data to us faster.” 

Getting department-wide access to both Focus and Assist is one of the benefits of an athletic department package. It’s easy to see how a school like Willis that places such an emphasis on video would benefit from a full suite of tools that let them capture, analyze, and learn from their video. 

Getting Recruited with Great Film
Video is essential at Willis to teaching and prep, and also to athletes who hope to play at the next level. As a former recruiting coordinator, Wall is well aware of the impact that quality video has on recruiting. “One of the things we tell kids to [help them] get recruited is to have great film. Video is the most critical piece in the recruiting process.” 

That process is another thing that the athletic department package has made easier. “For kids to be able to create their own highlights and send them instantly is huge,” Wall said. “It’s a simple process. You don’t have to be an IT wizard.” At Willis, they include links to players’ film on their recruiting profiles to make it easy for college recruiters and coaches to access. “It’s so much easier than years ago. This is cutting edge.” 

A Receptive Audience

They’re also eager to get their video out into the community. “We’re going to try and livestream all of our indoor stuff,” said Wall. “That’s an outstanding tool for grandma in Wisconsin to watch their babies down here in Texas be able to play sports.” 

Hudl not only has advocates within the community, but also among the school administration. Wall has a receptive audience when he brings requests to increase the athletic department’s capabilities with Hudl. “How can you not want to spend some money on a product like that?”

Are you looking to bring the power of video and data to all your teams? Hudl’s athletic department package is your program-wide solution. 

Learn more about Hudl’s Athletic Department packages.