In the pre-internet days, painstakingly cutting 16 mm films and redrawing the game plans each week was the norm for NFL coaches. A hard and laborious process; but as the saying goes lightning can strike at any moment. For Brian Billick, it struck in the form of an old Apple Computer.
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In the late 1980s, the league moved on from the 1970s-era Kodak Analyst 16mm film projector, transitioning from celluloid to video in 1986. The Super Bowl-winning head coach saw computers—an older Apple model—as a natural progression for game plans. For Billick, it was all about making the game more accessible to players, helping them process vast amounts of information more efficiently and ultimately making their jobs easier.
In the latest episode of Gruden Goes Long, Billick shared a fascinating story about how Steve Jobs unknowingly came to his rescue, helping him streamline a game-planning process that had once taken him hours.
“This was pre pre-internet. This was just the beginning of the old Apple computer we used to have and how you had to used to deal with it. But it just made sense…The computer was just a natural way to make it a better teaching progression.”
Billick wasn’t the only coach who embraced technology to make his job easier. Inspired by him, Jon Gruden also turned to Apple software to streamline his game-planning process.
In the late 1980s, as Gruden was beginning his coaching career, Apple introduced SuperPaint on its McIntosh, a groundbreaking program that combined the features of MacPaint and MacDraw. Recognizing its potential, Gruden used it to analyze game tapes more efficiently, giving him an edge in breaking down plays and developing strategies.
“I was the first guy to use SuperPaint 1.0. It could actually draw,” he revealed. Meanwhile, the NFL was undergoing its own technological transformation.
Less than a decade later, the NFL entered the digital age, with new software allowing teams to store and sort game footage digitally, eliminating the need for physical tapes.
Not long after, the NFL adopted XOS Technologies, a program that revolutionized how teams organized game footage by enabling customizable sorting. Today, game analysis has become even more advanced. NFL teams rely on personalized tablets provided by the league, equipped with cutting-edge software like Microsoft’s Sideline Viewing System, granting coaches and players instant access to multiple camera angles and in-depth play breakdowns in real time.
