Soaring with the Jets
SUNY Cortland sport management majors analyze footage of the New York Jets football practices. Pictured left to right are: Rob Desz, Greg Addallah and Pedro Suarez. While thousands of spectators crowded along fences and filled the Stadium Complex stands hoping to catch the best glimpse of the New York Jets practices this August, SUNY Cortland junior Greg Abdallah enjoyed an unabated bird’s eye view of the football action. The students — eight sport management majors and one major each from communication studies and kinesiology — took a series of three one-credit hour digital video analysis courses. They were required to research digital video in sport and to train on digital video hardware and software. The last component of their coursework had them working directly with the New York Jets on campus. “It was quite an experience to constantly be working so closely with the Jets,” said Greg, a SUNY Farmingdale transfer from Queens, N.Y. “We were one of the lucky few out of hundreds to have this opportunity. We assisted with the filming, the setup and breakdown of equipment, the analysis and uploading of video and sending it to the coaches.” “We were working with XOS, a software that organizes film,” explained Rob Desz, a SUNY Cortland junior from Holbrook, N.Y. “We were also trained in Dartfish, which the Jets staff uses for analyzing player motion and weight training instruction.” The students worked alongside the team’s video staff who operated sideline, endzone and field-level cameras. Using XOS software, the students helped break down video that would be shared with the coaches and players. Students also used Dartfish software to help analyze individual player motion such as the footwork and release point of the quarterback Mark Sanchez. said Daniel DePerno, a sport management faculty member and the director of the Sport Media and Technology Learning Center (SMTLC) on campus. The Jets coaches and team meeting rooms were situated in Studio West, making the team’s access to the technology all the more convenient. “For example, Room 131 in Studio West, which is normally a classroom during the fall and spring semesters, was the video breakout room for the Jets' linebackers during camp,” said DePerno. "One of the major factors that attracted the Jets to SUNY Cortland was the sport-specific technology infrastructure that was already in place in Studio West. "SUNY Cortland's partnerships with sport technology companies like XOS, Dartfish and Panasonic allow our students to be trained with the same hardware and software that is used in the sport industry. The courses were a tremendous opportunity for SUNY Cortland students to use that training to work directly for an NFL team while taking a class at the same time." The students’ workdays began 45 minutes before the 8 a.m. Jets practices and concluded 45 minutes after the 4 p.m. sessions were finished. The students were not paid but received credits as part of the College’s digital video analysis courses. They are following a well-worn academic path. DePerno shared the names of several SUNY Cortland alumni who majored in sport management and who now work with football video, technology and player personnel in the college and professional ranks. They include: • Kevin VanDerzee ’00, the director of football operations for Syracuse University |
