Fans have always coached from the stands, but technology has helped transform truck drivers and nurses and accountants into weekend experts on tackling techniques. Wood played high school football in Quanah in the late 1970s. On fall Saturday mornings, the team would gather at the fieldhouse to watch game film. That's still a routine across the state, but videocassettes have enabled players to take those game images home for additional study. Once they get them home, parents and well-meaning friends get involved.
TV makes everybody a coach.
An upside of technology, from a professional coach's view, is that modern weight training makes players bigger and faster than ever before. Jim Wood is the father of David Wood. He coached high school football in Quanah for 20 years before retiring in the spring. He played high school football in Tonkawa, Okla., in the 1950s. We had a weight room, but it was mostly for the wrestlers.