To Get Lowdown on Foes, Coaches Going High-Tech : Football: VCRs, laptop computers and other electronic gadgets are being used to scout opponents and teach fundamentals.

The caller, a football coach from way back, was trying to reach Capistrano Valley High School Coach Eric Patton the other day.

Ring, ring, ring, ring.

When the answering machine picked up, the coach, now an administrator, broke out laughing. He couldn’t fathom the thought of a football coach having an answering machine.

One wonders what his reaction would be if he saw the other electronic gizmos stored in Patton’s office. Video monitors, VCRs, videotapes, a laptop computer, computer printouts and, yes, the answering machine, dominate the room.

These days, the scene isn’t much different in coaches’ offices all around Orange County. It used to be that a good ‘fridge, a comfortable couch, a desk and a 16-millimeter film projector were about all the creature comforts a high school football coach needed. Now, a coach’s office is liable to look like an electronics store.

Coaches county-wide are quick to point out that the games are still won and lost on the field by 16- and 17-year-old kids, and that’s what makes high school football special. But as long as the technology is available to make it easier to win games, what the heck, they’ll give it a try.

There seem to be a number of reasons why coaches have embraced recent high-tech advances. First and foremost, they save time. They also provide an edge. And if they’re good enough for Coach Jones over at Cross-Town Rival High, they’re good enough for Coach Smith at Local High.

Blame for this goes not to Sony or Panasonic, but to the late Clare VanHoorebeke, who was slightly ahead of his time. By all accounts, he was the first county coach to study game films--of his Anaheim High team and upcoming opponents--while coaching in the early 1950s.

In his zeal to win, VanHoorebeke often kept his players sequestered in the film room for up to four hours. It was an effective teaching tool. In the end, it worked, and VanHoorebeke’s teams were 190-49-10 and won two Southern Section championships in his 23 seasons at Anaheim.

Others tried desperately to keep pace, which has led to all of this.

Perhaps the most startling advancement in recent years involves a video monitor, a VCR, a tape of a game and a computer.

A coach can watch the tape, enter all the plays into the computer, then later call up every pass play and make a tape of those plays to show his defensive backs. Or he can make a tape of every third-down play. The possibilities are limitless.

But only a few schools have this technology, and fewer still know how to use it.

At Capistrano Valley, where the program is in place, Patton figures it will take about a year before his staff catches up to the technology. When they do, they can take a single videotape, make a number of copies to study and prepare for next week’s opponent.

“It’s a big expense,” Patton said. “It’s pie in the sky. It’s a valid point to say, ‘Why do we need all this stuff?’ And it’s a damn good question.

“Can’t you play football without it? I’d have to say yes.”

His office is well-stocked, nevertheless.

At Tustin, Coach Marijon Ancich said he’s swamped under the crush of daily mailings from computer firms offering the latest scouting programs.

“You can’t believe the stuff that comes through here,” Ancich said. “Coach so-and-so says it’s great. This other coach endorses it. Vince Lombardi came out of the grave and said it was great.”

Ancich’s response is typical of many coaches who view technology with a suspicious eye. Still, the Tillers’ office is filled with monitors and VCRs, and even a computer.

Ancich now admits he likes video better than film.

“In the last three years, they’ve made a huge jump,” he said. “It’s been coming for 10 years. But you couldn’t stop and go. The video gave you squiggles, and the quality was horrible.

“With these (new) cameras, you can see the pimples on the quarterback’s face.”

Tustin films every game with four cameras--one from the sideline, one from the end zone and two from the press box.

“We have it from every angle,” Ancich said. “If we cut down six mistakes a game, we can get a potential victory. You can’t escape the video.”

Still, he said, you can’t beat the gut instincts you get from scouting an opponent in person.

“You get a feel for the game,” Ancich said. “The way they come out. The way they approach the game. You see the heroes and the weak points. When you see it on video you don’t see all that stuff.

“I really watch the sideline, who they bawl out for a mistake, who they don’t bawl out for a worse mistake.”

At El Modena, Coach Bill Backstrom said he has gone to a computer system only to save time. Ten years ago, it took 5 1/2 hours to chart every play from a single game film. Now, it takes about 15 minutes for a computer to spit out the same information. It works so well for Backstrom that he began selling the program to other coaches.

“I don’t figure to be a genius on the computer,” he said. “I do it to save time. I have a basic Apple computer and a slow printer. I can do one game while another coach is working on another.”

Now, the coaching staff is able to spend more time passing the information on to their players and working on what they have all learned on the field.

It has, however, led to an information overload, according to many. It’s possible to spend too much time gathering information, and not enough time on the field.

“You can compile more information, but then it takes a little bit more time to decipher it,” said Gary Meek, Esperanza’s coach, who like many is searching for that elusive edge.

“Today, the difference in coaching is very small. They all work hard. They’re all doing the same things we’re doing. You just don’t out-coach people. It comes down to the players.”

In addition to teaching their players to play football, coaches must learn how to work their hardware. They say it’s fun, yet it can be a frustrating experience.

“To me it’s extremely mind-boggling,” Ancich said. “The computer people are really something. I’d have a nervous breakdown. It does not in the least bit interest me. A lot of head coaches like to do this, but I cannot sit there and punch those buttons. I just like to watch the video.”

Said Patton: “Some technology has changed the game forever. As long as it makes our job easier, then it’s worthwhile. When it becomes a job in itself, then it ceases to be a help.”