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Irish relish tales of the tapes
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While Ursuline coach Dan Reardon, left, spends Saturday nights in the spotlight, he and his staff spend the bulk of their efforts on the days leading up to each playoff game.
Game Time
Matchup: Ursuline (13-0) vs. Lima Central Catholic (12-1).
When: Saturday; kickoff at 7 p.m.
Where: Ashland Community Stadium.
Ursuline vs. Norwayne
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Ursuline vs. SVSM
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Game Time
Matchup: Ursuline (13-0) vs. Lima Central Catholic (12-1).
When: Saturday; kickoff at 7 p.m.
Where: Ashland Community Stadium.
inside
This week’s high school schedule is on B2.
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
Late Saturday night, not long after his team won its fourth straight Division V regional title, Ursuline High football coach Dan Reardon was already on his cell phone, talking to Lima Central Catholic coach Jerry Cooper to set up a Sunday morning meeting with one of his staff members.
Coaches often talk about the “24-hour rule,” the one-day window where players can enjoy a win or shake off a loss. For playoff coaches, it’s a myth.
Which is why, at 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning, one of the Irish assistants made the 90-minute drive to Wooster to exchange three game films with a Lima Central coach.
It was the beginning of a frenzied process that starts with bleary-eyed coaches breaking down game film while most fans are more focused on pros than preps and ends (hopefully) with a win on Saturday and a chance to do it all over again.
Because the Irish have played in three straight state championship games, and because they play a regular-season schedule that often features unfamiliar teams from all parts of the state, this process has become second nature for Reardon and his staff. Here’s an inside look at how it works.
First, the film. Because Reardon doesn’t like advance scouts — “Simply because I don’t know a whole lot of people who aren’t coaching that know enough and can give me as good a perspective as I want to get,” he said — watching the game film is often the first impression he’ll get of an opponent.
Teams typically trade three game tapes, with Reardon preferring a “You give me the games I want and I’ll give you the games you want” approach. (Some leagues require teams to trade their last three games, and some coaches are more cooperative with game tape than others.)
Reardon prefers games from later in the season — “Teams evolve so much over 13 weeks that I’m guessing the Week 1 film is not going to do me a lot of good,” he said — and also tries to ask for games played against top competition, where opponents tend to show everything in their arsenal.
He also tries to look for games where the opponents run similar schemes as the Irish, so he can get a sense for how the next team is going to defend him.
“If I know one of their opponents runs a Wing-T, that doesn’t really help me,” said Reardon, who runs a spread offense.
Once they get the tape, the Irish coaches upload it into their video editing system. If it’s an unfamiliar opponent — and Lima Central is — Reardon likes to first watch the game straight through.
“Just so I can see the flow of the game and just get the kind of mindset they have, the tempo and the play calling,” he said.
Then the film is separated by offense, defense and special teams. As an offensive coach, Reardon pays attention to how teams align against different formations. He also looks for mismatches in personnel.
“Is their defensive tackle significantly better than our center? Does our receiver have an advantage against their cornerback? That sort of thing,” he said.
He then looks for tendencies — how often do they blitz, what do they do on certain downs and distances, does that approach change based on field position, etc.
After breaking down film, Reardon and his staff formulate a game plan and install it during Monday’s practice, possibly adding a new formation or pass route.
“Then, if it doesn’t look good by Wednesday, it’s out of the game plan,” Reardon said. “That’s always been my mindset.”
The rest of the week is spent tweaking, adjusting and fine-tuning. Because Ursuline plays so many unfamiliar opponents, and because it’s been here before, there are usually few surprises.
In between, Reardon has to juggle other priorities such as teaching, booster club meetings, media interviews, college recruiting questions and, of course, family.
“It’s tiring, but I’m not complaining,” Reardon said. “I love the process that goes into making the game plan.
“Plus, there’s a lot of other teams who would love to be in our position.”