A recurring concern from TSL subscribers is that my articles divulge too much information about the Hokies’ schemes and capabilities. You can rest easy, because I don’t begin to scratch the surface of what the Hokies do. On Mondays during game weeks, college football staff across the country will be up before dawn and working into the wee hours of morning watching, marking, cutting, reviewing, and planning with game footage. There might be a dozen people putting in as much as twenty hours of work each. The little tidbits I write for TSL take only a fraction of that amount of time and expertise.

Scouting is an involved process that ultimately helps two things: it helps coaches call plays, and it helps players make plays. There’s a lot of crossover, but the information used to help coaches call plays is generally more stats-oriented, while the information for players is generally a bit more focused on opponents’ personnel.

The process begins with grad assistants, quality control, and analyst staff viewing and analyzing anywhere from several games worth of footage to full seasons (or more.) They spend many hours reviewing opponents’ plays and breaking them down into fine-grained categories based on the play called, personnel, formation, down and distance, field position, game situation, and the tendencies of the team they’re playing. Video staff help on both ends of the equation and are integral to the process. Then, along with the field coaches and players, the staffers break down the minutia of these plays and concoct a complete understanding of the opponent along with a plan for beating them.

To give you an idea of what this entails, let’s look at this play by the Hokie offense:

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