This one’s for the filmers.
2024 has been Indiana football’s best season ever. Most of the credit for the Hoosiers’ 11-1 record and first-ever College Football Playoff has gone to head coach Curt Cignetti and his entourage of assistants (and players) from James Madison, but to say this is an entirely new program is disingenuous.
There are many, many people who’ve been in the building since the Tom Allen era (or longer), and they deserve their flowers, too.
I’m talking about valued members of the support staff like Director of Player Development Mike Pechac and Assistant Athletic Director Mark Deal of course, but also students working as managers, trainers, and filmers.
Being unsung is inherent to working as a student, and I wish I could properly shout out all of these kids, but this piece is for a specific breed of staffer.
This one is for the Eyes in the Sky.
Indiana football video is an intense, funny, underappreciated job. I know because I did it during the 2021 season.
For those who don’t know, the FBV team is responsible for filming every game, practice, and walkthrough for coaching staff and player use.
It took seven cameras to cover a Tom Allen practice. A select few were lucky enough to stay on the ground or zoom in on the practice fields from the roof of Memorial Stadium, the rest of us took to the sky.
Three industrial scissor lifts dot the IU practice fields. About 30 minutes before practice, filmers load their camera equipment, strap into harnesses, and rise 60 feet up to their office. There’s no bathroom up there, so be sure you go before. And don’t forget your snacks.
From there, filmers set up their cameras and use walkie-talkies to ensure every drill is covered. It takes a lot of communication to make sure no reps are missed.
Periodically during practice, filmers switch SD cards so the video coordinator can start cutting up practice. To get the cards down to the ground, filmers place them in a tennis ball and play catch with a runner down below.
Nothing feels cooler than catching a drop in front of the whole team.
Being up on the lift is tiring. You’re quite close to the baking sun during camp yet terribly far away from the heaters toward the end of the season. You’re also standing and flexing weird muscles and have to be locked in mentally for hours at a time.
It’s fun, too, though. Astute listeners can learn a lot about football and being able to see the entirety of what’s being taught helps it stick.
Plus, the team drips you out and you’re literally at a Big Ten football practice. Waking up every morning to watch Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. throw deep balls from above is one of my fonder memories from Bloomington.
Memories and self-absorption aside, the film team’s work really is important. Coaches across the country rely on student film to study both their teams and opponents. Great coaching decisions are often the product of something the Eyes in the Sky caught or the video coordinator imported quickly.
The role of football video continues to evolve nationwide. Looking to leave a crowded program where you don’t see the field? You need your practice tape. That sweet, sweet, NIL deal you just signed couldn’t have happened without the work of student filmers. They are essential.
With that, let’s turn our attention to tonight.
The biggest game in Indiana football history kicks off in a few hours. Given the program’s abysmal history and allegations of “fraudulence”, it’s understandable for the Hoosiers to feel like they’re going into this one alone.
They aren’t, though. Despite the frost-bit fingers and frozen cameras, somewhere up on that north endzone, in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus, Indiana’s Eye in the Sky will be looking over Notre Dame Stadium, too.