Video and Tapes As soon as the game against Florida State concluded last Saturday night, the Virginia football team switched to Troy State mode. Behind the scenes of Cavalier football is the video crew -- the people who allow practice for the upcoming game to be best conducted. Luke Goldstein, the video coordinator for Virginia football, and his student assistants tape the Cavaliers' practices and games. They also break down game tapes of the opposing team. These tapes are an integral part of the football team's practice.
"Football is great to analyze," Goldstein said. "It's a stop and go sport. There are distinct plays that have beginnings and endings, so plays can be analyzed one-by-one."
Practice for the Cavaliers starts at 2:30 p.m. on weekdays, and student videotapers arrive at the stadium at 2 p.m. They run four cameras mounted on three different lifts, one in each endzone and one on the sideline pointed in both directions. They also run two computers.
"They are shooting all aspects of the game," Goldstein said.
The practice tape is put in the computers as practice goes on, so by the time players are done showering, they can immediately look at the film of that practice. The film is broken down in the McCue Center's state-of-the-art computer system, which is worth over $800,000. The server holds two terrebytes, which Goldstein always tells recruits "is equal to 500,000 MP3 files." Each play can be broken down close to 40 ways, depending on if it's offense, defense or special teams.
Coaches and players study these tapes, learning what needs to be worked on. Coaches sometimes put in over 15 hours per day watching tapes. Players review the tapes in the meeting room at the McCue Center, or they get the tapes on VHS or DVD to watch in their own rooms. "Matt Schaub sometimes comes in to watch tapes after practice for three or four hours," Goldstein said.
In addition to reviewing tapes of its own practices or games, Virginia also studies tapes of its opposing team. Goldstein and his staff have broken down game tapes of Troy State, and all of the contests the Trojans were in.
There is a tape exchange agreement set up within the ACC to aid in scouting other teams' strategies. For example, with the NC State game coming up in two weeks on Nov. 1, Al Groh and staff will have tapes of the Wolfpack against all their other opponents, to get a better understanding of what they need to do.
Thus, the next time the Cavaliers make a huge stop on third and short, it is certain that much credit can be given to the film team and its dissection of tape.
Equipment
In addition to Goldstein's crew and their meticulous breakdown of film behind the scenes, the equipment team is also an integral part of Virginia football's success.
Although U.Va. fans generally finish pre-gaming and stumble over to Scott Stadium less than an hour before kickoff, the equipment team under Matt Althoff kicks off their Saturday much earlier. Four hours before game-time, Althoff and his assistants arrive at the stadium to begin setting up benches and the locker room and later checking to be sure that the field is ready for action.
Next, Althoff's crew shows the standard Virginia hospitality by checking with the visiting team to see if they need any more towels or if they have forgotten any equipment. Later, lunch is served to the visiting team.
The Cavaliers then arrive at the field, and the crew leaves the opponent to check if the Wahoos have forgotten any pads or uniforms, or need any other sort of equipment.
Later, when the Cavaliers rush out onto the field for their pre-game warm-ups, the equipment team is right behind them. Althoff and his team follow the players around, making sure everyone has footballs and picking up loose balls.
Althoff stressed that the pre-game setup does not merely take place on game day and that, in reality, Friday is the most demanding day of work. Althoff claims that his crew prefers to get nearly all the set-up done Friday so that his crew can stay out of the way of the players' preparation.
Though the equipment crew stays out of the team's way, they are very much involved and allow for the team's operations to run as smoothly as they do.
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