Interview with Duane Reboul, Head Coach, Men's Basketball BSC
Duane Reboul, the winningest coach in Birmingham-Southern College men's basketball history, takes the court for his 15th season during the 2003-04 campaign.

In his previous 14 seasons on the Hilltop, Reboul has amassed two national championships, 11 20-win campaigns, averaged nearly 25 wins a season, but most impressively shown no signs of slowing down. Reboul and winning have become synonymous with Birmingham-Southern basketball.

Last season, Reboul guided Birmingham-Southern's final NCAA provisional team to an astounding 19-9 overall record and an 11-5 standing against the Big South Conference. For his efforts, Reboul was named Big South Conference Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com, a website that covers college basketball and specializes in mid-major programs.

It was just another of the ever-growing list of impressive accomplishments for the now 14-year veteran head coach, who has an overall record of 347-94 (78.7%) in his career.

From his NAIA roots to his current status as one of the most respected coaches in the NCAA, he has coached numerous All-Americans and has been selected as the National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year. He has averaged an impressive 25.2 victories per season.

Despite jumping from small college coaching to the "Big Time," Reboul continues to be a superior coach who recruits student-athletes who leave every ounce of energy on the court. An instructor as much as a coach, he can extract each player's individual talents on the court and utilize their highest potential whether it be an up-tempo, high-pressure style of game or a smothering defensive style. His players are his students.

Coach Reboul, his assistant coaches and his players in the BSC Men’s Basketball Program have been using Sideline Sports products for more than two years. We got Coach Reboul to sit down for a few minutes, and share with us his experience with Sideline Sports Software.

Coach Reboul, what got you interested in Sideline Sports Software?

There were various reasons, but a major one was the idea that it would enable us to approach the game scientifically. I think as coaches we have only a feeling of what is happening and what we are doing in game and practice. When I got introduced to the Sideline Sports software products I saw how I could get more substantial feedback on what is actually happening in game and practice. I also saw how it could help us organize our practices and program. These were the main reasons for my initial interest.

Were you used to using computers to help with your coaching?

No, I was old school as far as computers went. I knew nothing about them in my 30 some years as a coach. I did nothing with them, even struggled with sending e-mail. I did not even know how to operate the mouse properly.

How much of a problem did the computer illiteracy cause?

There was a lot of skepticism but I recognized that this is the way of the future; this is the way to get to your players. We are always looking for ways to be better teachers. Obviously, technology is being used in the classroom so why shouldn’t we use it. I think it would be foolish not to take advantage of technology and for me this was a great opportunity to do so.

It is my responsibility to teach and coach my players in the best way I possibly can. I ask a lot of them physically and mentally and I cannot ask any less of myself. Just because I have been coaching the same way for many years does not necessarily mean that it is the best way.

Having made the decision to start using the software, it was a welcome relief when I found out how easy it was to operate, especially considering my computer background.

Has the technology helped you teach your concepts to the players?

Definitely. The way players learn things is changing. There used to be a time when you as a coach would tell a player to do something and he would go do it. No questions asked, you did not have to reason with why. Today, kids are taught to reason and think by themselves. This is great because it provides the opportunity for a much deeper understanding on their behalf. However, to achieve this, the coach has to be able to deliver his message in a way the players understand.

This was the main reason I decided to start using Sideline Sports Software. I realized that it could help me communicate with my players and just because I was not good with the computer did not mean I should not pursue this.

How has the software changed your program? What are the benefits?

The biggest change is the clarification we have gained from our game and practice analysis. I could probably talk for days about the benefits. The software has affected so many parts of our program.

Saving time doing practice plans and breaking down video has been a huge benefit. Little things like doing practice plans now takes 15 minutes instead of 50 minutes and I won’t even go into how much time we have saved in breaking down video.

It has given practice more diversity since it is easy to see how many times I have used a certain drill. I have our drill collection in front of me while planning a practice. This has allowed me to keep up with using different drills to teach the same fundamental, because seeing the different drills available each time jogs my memory. I love the practice planning from that standpoint.

I think one of the most difficult things is to get players to read a scouting report. In the past, probably half of our players really studied the scouting reports. Now that we are able to create scouting files that contain video, diagrams and animated plays, the scouting files have become more enjoyable and fun for the players.
We are presenting the scouting information in the way that makes it easier for the players to understand it and as a result most of them study it and gain more from it than before. We are definitely better prepared.

Post-game evaluation has been easier. We used to sit in the locker-room together for an hour. With the Sideline Video Analyzer we are able to pull out the clips that we think the players need to see so much easier, all the positives and the negatives. Having been a player, I remember dreading those meetings that seemed to take forever. Today we get more done in 20 minutes than we did in an hour before. Players do not have to watch every possession and afterwards we send every player personalized clips.

We are better teachers. We have really noticed a difference between years after we started using the software. We are now teaching concepts in a much shorter time than before, and that is because we are using technology to communicate to the players on their level.

It has helped us to organize and systematize our program. Our planning and executing is more efficient. It is much easier to get an overview of what the whole staff is doing, and the software has really helped with dividing the responsibility between the coaches.

I could go on and on. I had high expectations for the software in the beginning, but I had no idea it would help us as much as it has done.

Can you describe your approach?

I used it sparingly at first. I took it slow and did not rush into anything. I used the standalone version of the Sideline Organizer in the beginning, primarily as an organizer to help me plan my practices, build my drill collection, etc. From there the assistant coaches got more involved with the video and scouting aspect of it and we gradually upgraded to the Network Edition that brought all of us on the to the same page.

What helped me realize the value of the software was when I was speaking at clinics my first summer after getting the software. I was being asked to speak for a long time, up to 3-5 hours. At the clinics, you want to go in and not just entertain but also present some information that can be useful to the coaches.

Coach Reboul speaking at the LHCA clinic

Now I had this innovative software to help me present my material. It was great to able to animate diagrams, show them practice and game footage and have access to all my teaching material right there at my fingertips. I found right away that I had become much more effective in presenting our concepts. The clinics were the best I have done. I got more and better feedback than ever before with coaches requesting more information on what they saw. With the Organizer I was able to send them information with no effort at all, something I had never been able to do before.

With the experience from the clinics, that I could communicate our concepts so easily and effectively, the next logical step was to expand this to our own teaching. And that’s what we did.

How are you doing it?

Today we are creating multimedia teaching files and sending to our players. Now they can view the same teaching material that is on the coaching staff network on their own computers. It has proven to be great way to reinforce what we are doing. The players can view things before they come to practice or scouting meetings. It is really making us effective. We are saving time on the court, since we are able to move quicker to the next drill. When we teach our plays, the players have already studied them in their own comfort zone, viewing video clips of the plays and animations. The material we have created is not only aimed at the players, but at the coaches as well. Our drills contain information on how they should be coached, again with teaching points, videos, animations and diagrams.

Today each player has a folder on the school network that he checks on regularly. I will go in there and send them the teaching material that is relevant to what we are doing now. With the Organizer Standards they can watch the plays and drills animated, see footage from the practices or games, read feedback or teaching points, all in a time efficient manner. I’m still amazed at how much we are doing and how little time it is actually taking us.

For example, when a player comes to me with a question about a play, all I have to tell him now is to go into his folder where I will put in the file on the play that contains all the teaching points. So there is no reason for him to come to tomorrow's practice not knowing what we are doing, where he needs to be and where he needs to go. We do the same with our scouting. We have systematized our teaching system and we are doing a better job presenting it to our players.

Would you recommend other coaches to follow your example and take advantage of technology?

No question about it. It’s simply a matter of keeping up with the times. I think after just a few years, this technology will be the only way of doing things.

It has given us a competitive advantage, which is important. But even more importantly, I want to emphasize my belief that it is our responsibility as coaches to give our players the best coaching we can provide.

Sideline Sports have made it affordable to invest in technology. We do not have the same budget as the major programs that can go and buy video editing systems for $40,000 or more. We still have to compete with these major programs and with Sideline Sports Software, we feel that we are getting a lot more for a lot less.

For the young coach, the Sideline Sport Software is an absolute necessity.

I mentioned this to my nephew who is just beginning his coaching. He realized right away what it could do for him. I think it will help him tremendously at the high school level. The value is enormous for him since everything he does from the beginning is going to be with him forever. I look back at my playbooks of years past, and I have quite a few of them, but I don’t have a lifetime of observation like he will when he gets to my age. Believe me there are times when I would love to go back to old seasons and see what we were doing and how we were doing it.

Coach Reboul, thank you for the interview. We wish you great success in the future.