Becoming the offensive coordinator at Oberlin College in July put me into an interesting situation that required us as a staff to do our best as coaches but to do it with a sense of urgency.

Because we had very little time to prepare, we streamlined our terminology and began working to match our players’ skills sets with formations and plays. The small size of our roster and early season injuries also limited the amount of live practice reps that we had available. This meant that our first real look at live action was on game day.

As coaches, we had to provide our players with a strong understanding of assignment so they could play fast on game day with a high level of execution. It took some time, but our offense began to execute at a high level. This included the seventh-best passing and third-best receiving performance in school history as well as setting a new passing records and new total offense records that rank among the top-10 performances in the country. We attribute some of our success to the tools we used in preparing our players.

The technology we have available today as coaches leaves us no excuses in getting players ready.

In breaking down our opponents, we develop a list of key plays that show the defensive alignments and movements our players will face.

We screencast a telestrated voiceover movie of those key coaching points to be sure players know exactly what we want them to see. This takes minutes to prepare, and the videos are three to five minutes at most. An added benefit players having access to the videos is that they can go back to it throughout the week. If coaches only shared this information live in a meeting, players have limited or no chance to review.

Most of our players access the video player on their smart phones. We make sure anything we need them to see is accessible through a smart phone.

We preview drills utilizing this method as well. This stops us from spending precious field time explaining the setup and purpose of drills.

We utilize instant replay software through phones and iPads as well. This feedback method has been tremendous in helping a young team learn a new system.

We give our players gameplan books that we create in iBooks and distribute them at the beginning and end of each weeks.

Of these tools, two have made a major impact.

Instant replay in practice

Many teams are utilizing instant replay in games, which obviously has great value to gameday adjustments. We are not allowed to do this at the college level, but we do use some of the same software to provide instant replay at practice to give our players immediate feedback.

As a coach, I carry my iPad throughout practice, while a student coach uses my iPhone as the recording device. This way, I can watch every repetition in practice. In drills, I show players the exact technique we are looking for so they can refine themselves. In group and team periods, I take a few seconds to show players what they did correctly or incorrectly. It is important to show both the good and the bad to get proper execution.

The players appreciate having these tools for immediate feedback. Our film sessions are often a reinforcement of what already reviewed with them on the field.

The gameplan review book

With an emphasis on safety and lighter contact practices, players need cutting edge learning tools to ensure that they are prepared to perform on game day.

Utilizing a combination of free and pay applications, we created a coaching tool that the pros and high-budget college teams spend $30,000 or more per season. Our players love utilizing the book that we put together and use it frequently. At a small Division III college, our players have raved about the ease of use and multi-media format with which they can spend the last two and a half days using to mentally prepare themselves for game day. They step onto the field with the confidence that they are ready for the challenge that the games present.

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for 26 years, currently serving as an offensive assistant and technology coordinator at Oberlin College in Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Grabowski serves as an advisor for several sports technology companies. He is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at thecoachesedge.com/blog. He's the author of "101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays" and five other books available on thecoachedge.comand operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski.