One of Alabama’s largest school districts didn’t think twice about the chance to equip every high school with every Hudl tool.
Henry Pope was just looking for a little help paying for a deal that would put the full bells and whistles of a Hudl athletic department package in each of the seven high school athletic departments he oversees.
Instead, the Birmingham City Schools athletic director wasn’t just met with “extremely small” resistance. The district offered to pay for the whole thing, no questions—not partial, as he initially asked.
“When you start talking about a cost like this, most people would look at this and say, ‘Nah, that’s not something we want to do’,” Pope said. “But when you start talking about being competitive in athletics—and we are—this is an investment in our student-athletes and our programs.”
Over his 15 seasons as defensive coordinator at Birmingham's Wenonah High School, Pope saw first-hand Hudl's impact on high school football’s evolution. To him, this was a no-brainer for a number of reasons:
Enhancing the Whole Student-Athlete
As someone who grew up with a single parent and two siblings, Pope was a self-described “poster child for Birmingham City Schools.” He estimates 95 percent of students in the district today are on either free or reduced lunch.
And so Pope wants all Birmingham student-athletes to have the same opportunities he once had, when he was able to parlay his All-State high school football career into a college scholarship.
Technology is an imperative part of the journey for today’s students, and every Birmingham student now has access to their own personal technology device. To Pope, Hudl is an invaluable vehicle for stimulating a data-driven mindset that leads to success beyond just the gridiron.
“This gives them a constant practice of technology in a positive manner,” Pope said. “You actually have a purpose because you’re going on a Hudl account. You’re viewing videos. You’re breaking down and doing analysis. You’re doing statistical analysis.”
“So now, you’re working with your math problems and you’re able to sit back and look at the jargon as you’re going in and putting work on your typing skills. There’s so many things that you can do with this program, that I just think it’s outstanding.”
Better Recruiting Opportunities
The recruiting process for today’s high school athlete is a 180 from when Pope went through it. In his day, with film harder to come by, it was on his coaches to ensure their players were getting seen in-person on campus. That meant getting in the car and making a tour of the state to meet different college coaches.
Now, a big highlight goes viral instantaneously and catches coaches’ eyes from all over. That four-star high school athlete has the coaches coming to them—and not just the local colleges, either.
That’s why Hudl’s highlight creation tools, and the ease with which a student-athlete can put one together, are so essential for Pope.
“Those things make our children more marketable, and it gives us an opportunity to have them to a point where they can further their education,” said Pope, who was recently inducted in the Hall of Fame at his alma mater Miles College.
“I tell people all the time, without education, we’ll suffer. And a lot of us can’t afford to do it without scholarships.”
Courtesy of Birmingham City Schools
This gives them a constant practice of technology in a positive manner.
Henry Pope, Athletic Director, Birmingham City Schools
Leveling Up the Coaching Staff
On Pope’s watch at Wenonah, the program’s competitiveness coincided with how well it used Hudl’s tools.
“The better we got at Hudl, the better we got with analysis, the better our teams started performing,” Pope said. “And so you start looking at us, we went from the team that was always just, you may get to the first round of the playoffs, to going to our first state championship in school history. That comes from having information and having data.”
Without the data on film, Pope says they focused on opponents’ top six formations and plays, a standard high-level overview for any coach. It also took them all weekend—literally.
Hudl Assist changed all that. Sunday became the new Monday for installing the week’s gameplan, because they had all the requisite data on their scout film by Saturday.
They also found themselves making key scouting discoveries Sunday night that often didn’t happen previously until the crunch time of mid-week when they did it all by hand themselves.
“Everything’s now available to you up front,” Pope said.
The better we got at Hudl, the better we got with analysis, the better our teams started performing.
Henry Pope, Athletic Director, Birmingham City Schools
Getting Hudl Focus hands-free smart cameras in every gymnasium and stadium has Pope excited about the possibilities. He expects it to unlock some creativity in his coaches, including when it comes to monetizing livestreams.
He’s been there. Pope remembers the long nights of uploading film and hoping to get a few hours’ sleep before starting the breakdown the next morning. All this work being taken out of his coaching staffs’ hands was personal to Pope.
”I was the guy on the end who had to do all of the legwork, the uploading, the cutting,” Pope said. “And now you’re saying that all this can be done easier for our coaches, and they’re allowed to just coach? That makes it great for me.”
It’s values like this that’s kept Pope loyal to Hudl all these years.
“When you start looking at the difference in product and quality, Hudl was by far and away the best thing for Birmingham City Schools for what we were doing and how we were doing it.”
