Story by Rick Maese
Baltimore Sun
April 16, 2006

College Park--Ralph Friedgen might as well have been in a
toy store. He was attending a coaches' convention back in
January, stiff-arming his way through a gantlet of vendors.
They're circus barkers in polo shirts, all trying to lure
coaches to their booths, each hawking something new and
improved, something that will change the way football is
coached.

That's what they say at least.

"Coach, you've got to see something," one of them told
Friedgen, the Maryland coach.

"How long is this going to take?" the coach asked.

"Twenty minutes," the vendor said.

"I'll give you 10."

One hour, 45 minutes later, Friedgen was ready to pull out
the school's checkbook. What he saw--what he bought--has
the potential to change the way offense is coached, not
just at Maryland, but across the college and pro levels.

There's a room at the Gossett Football Team House this
spring that has been converted into the "simulator room."
It's home base for the Terps' pricey new computer program,
a cross between a simulator and a video game.

On the computer screen, the Pro Simulator looks very much
like a John Madden football video game. But it's much more
complex (and much more expensive, costing the department
$240,000). When the system is up and running, players will
come into the simulator room and sit in front of the
computer, using a video-game controller that looks similar
to the one you might use for your PlayStation 2.

On the screen in front of the player, he'll choose a play
and watch as computerized players approach the line of
scrimmage. A question will flash on the screen--"Where is
the mike linebacker?"--and the player must answer with the
controller. Then the ball is snapped and the player must
read the defense, progressing through his receiver options.

The benefits are twofold: Players can learn the playbook
through visualization, and they'll learn how to read
defenses in real-time. Because the entire playbook will be
in the computer, using the simulator will mimic taking
actual snaps and reading scout-team defenses in practice.

Maryland has purchased the Pro Simulator for its
quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs. Only three
schools used the system last year, but none of them used it
as extensively as Friedgen and his staff have planned for
the 2006 season.

Friedgen, with so many old-school qualities on the field,
has consistently found himself at the front of the
technology curve. In some NFL circles, he was called the
Cyber Coach. At Maryland, he was one of the first to use a
digital film system that is now a staple at most colleges.
And now he has embraced a video-game simulator that he
thinks every other school and NFL team will be implementing
in the next few years.

"Video games--it's what kids do today," he said last week.
"If they're going to do it, why shouldn't it be helping our
team?"

The Terps are able to custom-build each player--their own
and their opponent's--according to size, strength and
speed.

The simulator is something that Friedgen has had
conceptualized in his head for several years. Every
Division I-A school in the country has a quarterback on its
roster who can throw the ball. What separates these players
is what they do in game situations. That's where Friedgen
hopes the simulator will help most, with timing and
decision-making. (You didn't need to remind him that Sam
Hollenbach threw 15 interceptions last season, including at
least two in six different games.)

In the past, Friedgen has used flash cards and later
PowerPoint presentations to help his quarterbacks learn
plays. This new system is 1,000 times more complex. The
Terps hope their quarterbacks can sit down with the
simulator beginning this week.

Ryan Steinberg is a student manager in his fourth year with
the football program. He has been promoted from laundry
detail to revolutionizing the way Maryland players learn
the offense. Steinberg has been inputting data into a
computer for the past month, sometimes until 3 in the
morning.

Friedgen draws up 20 plays a night and the next day
Steinberg types the information into the computer. For each
offensive play, Friedgen builds a dozen defensive
formations that the Terps might face.

Building the library and designing each player is no easy
task, and the simulator might not be fully functional until
late summer. But the long-term plans are big.

Players will be given video-game controllers to take back
to their dorm rooms. They'll be e-mailed assignments.
They'll have to complete tests in the simulator room each
week. The Terps will travel with laptops and the players
will have to use the system on Friday nights, studying
plays, reading defenses and answering questions that are
specific to the next day's game.

The idea isn't just that the starters will be better
prepared. The program could help second- and
third-stringers--players who don't get as many repetitions
in practice--perhaps even more.

Last year, Arizona State, Virginia and Oklahoma State tried
out the program. At Arizona State, Rudy Carpenter was a
backup quarterback who took over for injured starter Sam
Keller midway through the season.

Carpenter had spent the previous summer and most of the
fall working with the Pro Simulator. In his first game with
the Sun Devils, he was named Pacific-10 Offensive Player of
the Week and in December led them to an Insight Bowl
victory over Rutgers.

Those are the kinds of results the Terps are seeking. On
paper, the offseason hasn't been kind to Maryland's
offense. Its top receiving target, tight end Vernon Davis,
is headed to the NFL. Friedgen won't commit to a starting
quarterback for next fall. And the team still has no
offensive coordinator. (Friedgen says he's prepared to
start the season without one and plans on calling offensive
plays himself next season.)

But he feels very comfortable with what could prove to be
the biggest offensive change--the addition of some laptops,
video-game controllers and a projection screen.

Coaching has changed, and it's a testament to Friedgen that
he has been open to new ways of learning and teaching the
game.

The chalkboard and the recruiting trail will always be
important. But a lot of people will have an eye on College
Park this fall to see just what kind of effect technology
will have on the game.

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