What better time for the preeminent juggernaut in South Carolina to shake up how they do things than after one of the most dominant seasons in state history …right?
"Oh goodness, you always have to change…You’ve always got to add. There’s always ways to get better."
As a history teacher for the past two decades, Pelham has seen a transformation in how students soak up their lesson plans. In recent years, he’s become a believer in the “flipped classroom” technique, a method that’s been practiced on college campuses for years but has picked up steam with the explosion of online degrees being offered.
Here’s how it works — the lecture is recorded beforehand so the classroom time can be used for activities and lecture assessments. Teachers using this method often find their students come into class more guided, ready with questions and engaged feedback.
Pelham has introduced that approach to his football team for 2019, first testing it out during spring practices when introducing a third base coverage to accompany their uber-deceptive cover 2 and cover 3 schemes. Pelham will record himself breaking down the next day’s installment on a whiteboard, in clips that typically last no more than 5 – 10 minutes, then uploads the footage for everyone to watch as many times as they need to.
"What I’ve noticed with the advent of Hudl, kids are information seekers, whether it’s good or bad."
“Film study has gotten so much more in-depth, and the kids are so much better with Hudl and sorting plays than I am. The next evolution is how can we tap into the information-seeking of players, how can they start break down process, finding out about opponents. A lot of kids are looking for something to be a part of — this is way better than being on Twitter or TV.”
It’s too early to tell how this all translates on the field, though the Foxes’ first live action of the 2019 season, a nationally-televised showdown with Charlotte’s Mallard Creek, was a promising start. In a game that was called with a 27 – 27 tie after three lightning days, there were moments of brilliance, such as this double-reverse touchdown pass to open things up …
"It was one of those things where I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner."
When re-imagining how to teach his players, it helps to have a striking vote of confidence from his own boss, whom he calls “one of the best coaches in the country”. Knotts’ resume is jacked, with 11 state titles and nearly 400 wins across four schools in North and South Carolina. But it also lacks modernism. “Fiercely old school,” is how Pelham characterizes him.
And as Pelham has learned, that actually be a good thing in the hands of an open mind — yes, those two qualities can coexist. All he has to do is be great at his job.
“He really stays out of your way if you’re doing good things and if you can impress him with technology,” Pelham says. “If you can make it easier for the kids to understand, he backs out of the way. He does embrace technology. He’s high on film, of course, but he also likes it when his coaches are able to create playlists, are able to make the film work for him.”
It’s this mentality of letting the coaches coach, and embracing their tech, that has allowed the Foxes to stay on the cutting edge. But it is also Knotts’ evergreen challenge to be better that feeds the ongoing dialogue about where the weak spots are — and how they can preemptively fix them.
For instance, in past years, the Foxes deployed seven or eight different pass coverages. They whittled it down to essentially two in 2018, and heavily disguised those two. Players were graded on their chicanery, with Pelham even asking them, “What does this look like to you in Madden?”
This year though, Knotts issued a challenge for Pelham. “He didn’t tell me what to do, but he said ‘This is your project,’” Pelham recalls. A catch-up with veteran NFL offensive coach Pep Hamilton, one of Knotts’ first quarterback pupils three decades ago at West Charlotte, suggested that RPOs have evolved again. Now, reads are being made at even the third level. Can Pelham come up with an answer that fits the scheme? Can the Foxes change the eye level of the quarterback with their safety movement and still be in one of their base coverages?
It’s this mentality of letting the coaches coach, and embracing their tech, that has allowed the Foxes to stay on the cutting edge
“We see some of the programs in our area, and they’re all improving, we’ve noticed in last couple of years,” Pelham said. “My theory is you always plan for extra. We always need extra. You don’t have to use everything, but you’d better plan for extra as opposed to too little.”
And at the very least, they’ll have as many opportunities as they want to digest his plan.
“I’ve been told a lot by the old school coaches, ‘Figure out what you want to do and major in it,’” Pelham says. “It’s the only way to survive in a video world.”
Today’s students continue to change up how they gather information, giving unlimited possibilities to those who constantly push the boundaries like Pelham.
