Ohio State’s coaching staff has two new tools at its disposal for the 2024 football season.
The first is in-helmet communication, with one player on offense and one player on defense allowed to hear play calls and other callouts from coaches until 15 seconds remain on the play clock.
The other less-talked-about and perhaps underrated change is the use of iPads on the sidelines. Their presence is less obvious, but every bit as impactful.
“Maybe in another scenario, you're more frustrated from the sideline because you're not sure exactly how that just shook out,” Ryan Day said on Tuesday. “Like we just didn't use a good technique and he was a little tentative there. And then as time went on and the game went on, he got his feet underneath him and just started rolling guys out of there. I think it's really helped our coaching in terms of being accurate in what we're saying during a game.”
The top advantage of the iPads, as Day alluded to, is accurate feedback.
When correcting a mistake, accuracy is everything. It’s one thing to see that a player did something wrong, but if you can’t inform him of the correct reason why that mistake was made, he’s more likely to repeat it. If you can point it out on film, it becomes much easier.
“It all comes down to the evaluation by the coaches,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “We have those iPads now. We're getting everything in real-time, you can pretty much grade a player after every series. I mean, you can. You can see what his value is to the defense based on the call.”
Day brought up the value of the electronics unprompted when answering a question about offensive line play on Tuesday. There’s a clear difference in the level of critique that coaches can provide.
“I do think having that tablet on the sideline is very helpful,” Day said. “When you can identify what has happened on the last play, not just coming from the booth but showing them, especially a young player – there was a play in particular where one of the guys missed a block and I'm like, ‘I haven't seen that one time in all preseason. Just let it go, don't start stressing or having anxiety over it. Just go block the three-technique. You're blocking Tyleik Williams every day in practice, I watch it on film.’”
Up to 18 tablets are allowed for team use between the sidelines, coach’s booth and locker room. They are to be used exclusively to review in-game footage, per the NCAA’s rule changes made in April to allow the use of tablets and in-helmet communication as well as the introduction of the two-minute timeout at the end of each half.
Coaches and players can view three different angles of game footage on the tablets. The offense and defense reviews tape after each series, and the special teams units watch themselves right after exiting the field.
“We get it after every drive in all three phases,” Day said. “You get done with an offensive drive, you go over, it's uploaded onto the tablet and you get to see the sideline (camera), you get to see the end zone (camera) and then you do see the TV copy as well. So there's three different views that you're able to see for each of those plays, and then same thing will happen on special teams. Once a kick happens you're able to go over, watch the kick in those three views.”
It also helps Knowles and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the two schematic masterminds for Ohio State, make adjustments and informed play calls, especially since they’re both coaching from the booth.
“You can get yourself organized a lot easier being up in the box,” Day said. “Most play-callers want to get their next series organized. I think now with the added part of it being having the tablets and being able to watch the last series, if you just think about it logistically and practically, you have a desk there. You can put your call sheet here. You can put the tablet over here. You can write things down on a sheet of paper. You just can't do that when you're on the sideline.”
So, while it might not be something that will be particularly noticeable to the viewers watching at home, the Buckeyes’ coaches will continue using their tablets to the most advantage possible.
