Indiana high school coach still assisting team from Afghanistan

By Annmarie Toler | Posted 8/14/2017

                                                                                                                                                                                       Photo via Scott Roberson / Daily Journal

One football coach has found a way to serve his country while honoring his coaching commitment to his high school football team.

Defensive coordinator and social studies teacher at Whiteland (Ind.) Community High School, Dan Rector, will help coach this season from Afghanistan.

Rector, 39, has been the defensive coordinator for the Whiteland Warriors since 2005, while also serving as a captain in the Indiana National Guard.

In January, Rector was called up as part of a National Guard group tasked to train Afghan soldiers, however, this isn't the first time Rector has been deployed.

Rector has served two previous tours. His first deployment came in 2009 and his second in 2012. During those tours, Rector missed the entire 2009 and 2012 football season and most of the 2013 season.

The Warriors took the field Friday night for their first preseason scrimmage. This season, with Rector overseas, something was different.

“I don’t like not being involved with it,” Rector told the Daily Journal.  “I miss being engaged with the game and the other coaches and the kids, and I was not happy the last two times I was over and had to miss out.”

Whiteland head coach Darrin Fisher and Rector found a way for him to continue coaching while he was overseas. With the help of Whiteland athletic director Ken Sears the three were able to come up with a plan to allow Rector to coach the defense in real time from Afghanistan.

With the use of Hudl, the coaching staff will be able to send Rector video to break down. This will allow him to come up with plays. But that wasn't enough for Rector. He wanted to find a way to be involved even more, and with the help of the school and coaching staff, they have found a way for Rector to coach the team in real time.

The coaching staff is able to live stream the game's video through Skype and audio through FaceTime. This will allow Rector, who is 7,000 miles away, to coach the defense in real time. To reduce the lag time the coaching staff found if they run the audio and video separately Rector will only experience a three-second delay.

The Warriors’ regular season will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug.18, but for Rector, who is eight and-a-half hours ahead of Indiana (Eastern) time, his season will kick off at around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.

The time difference has actually been beneficial to Rector and the team. He is able to break down film while everyone else sleeping, and having plays and routes ready to go when the rest of the coaching staff and team wakes up.

Coaching from more than 7,000 miles has its challenges but Rector and the Whiteland coaching staff have found a way to make it work.

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