We live in an age where technology develops at an unprecedented rate in the grand scheme of history. 

With the evolution of technology comes the evolution of sport, including football.

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Rob Everett sees a variety of benefits virtual reality (VR) can bring to the sport, from high school to the NFL. “You’re able to expose your players [to things they haven’t seen before], and you also don’t box them into memorizing things,” says the former assistant coach of the AAF’s Memphis Express. “You’re able to show so many different things. The players are now applying rules and concepts and remembering specifically that it’s this front and it’s this play and I have that guy.”

The GoArmy Edge app is Everett’s go-to when using VR. “There’s a foundation in the app that’s already created, so you can pull a playbook out there,” says Everett. “It’s in generic terminology so you may have to change some things, but you can copy that example playbook that is out there and get started right away. There’s not a big learning curve because you’re not fitting people and you’re not trying to move things post-snap.”

Joining in the conversation with Everett was host of the Coach and Coordinator podcast, Coach Keith Grabowski. The pair have both used VR for years, and to start, Grabowski advises having a younger, less central member of your staff take over using the app. “I had it at a new place where I had not worked with all of those coaches and they had not worked with it. So I turned it over to my intern and in an hour he came back to me … so he was kind of our expert in it.”

Grabowski also remembers introducing it to his players fondly. “I set up what I called our simulation room, and it was an old racquetball court,” says the former NCAA Division III coach. “We went up on top with a projector, I projected that down onto the wall, and initially I went down with those guys and thought, ‘Alright, I’m probably going to have to interact and walk them through this.’ Immediately, it turned into that situation where I just went back upstairs and watched it unfold and heard these guys communicate and let them problem solve.”

At face value, the technology may be perceived as only useful early in the season or offseason, however, that isn’t the case according to Everett. “What I would want you to do is focus on pre-snap,” says Everett. “So motion checks, shifts, breaking a huddle. Offensively, secondary rotation, capped overhang pressure people, front identification … The power of pre-snap identification, that will make you players stronger mentally and give you that edge to get your team to that next level.”   

For those needing more convincing to use the VR, the GoArmy Edge app is completely free. “There’s no wait time, delivery, anything like that,” adds Grabowski. “Go sign up, get it.’