BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — After authoring one of the most dynamic performances in Wisconsin football history, sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook gave credit to a strange phenomenon.
Inconvenience.
UW players, coaches and support staffers were all onboard a charter flight and awaiting departure for Salt Lake City on Sept. 15 when a logistical mix-up with the airline and the Dane County Regional Airport led to an extended delay.
While solutions were being hashed out, Hornibrook found an earnest outlet. He borrowed a laptop from John Schaefer, the team's video coordinator, and took one more deep dive into the defensive tendencies of BYU, the non-conference opponent the Badgers would face the next day at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.
"I usually don't do that, but I wanted to," Hornibrook said of the impromptu review session. "I was just sitting there."
Like any quarterback worth his salt, Hornibrook is a video devotee. He doesn't count the hours and refused to estimate how much time he spends watching video on his team-issued iPad or in-house at the UW football offices, "but when I'm not in class or out on the field, I'm watching film."
So what's another hour or so, right?
Turns out the extra time spent on the tarmac researching and confirming BYU tendencies was huge. While the itinerary was being adjusted to include a refueling stop in Omaha, Nebraska, and a later-than-expected arrival to the team hotel, Hornibrook was becoming more and more secure in the game plan.
"Watched the same thing over and over and over again, so I knew it inside and out," he said. "Sometimes you don't have that much time during the week to do that.
"The biggest thing was that I confirmed all the reads that we were doing and I knew that (the Cougars) were going to be where they were (in each alignment) because I'd seen every single clip they've ever ran against that look."
Hornibrook's knowledge, comfort and cool was obvious throughout a 40-6 victory that put him prominently in the Wisconsin record book.
On the way to completing 18 of 19 passes for 256 yards and a career-best four touchdowns — setting the school standard for single-game completion percentage at .947 — Hornibrook gave the impression that he knew exactly what was going down every time he dropped back to pass.
Well, he did.
Hornibrook was 8-for-8 for 114 yards and three TDs on third down. He hit four different targets for third-down conversions and three — sophomore wide receiver Quintez Cephus, sophomore wide receiver A.J. Taylor and senior tight end Troy Fumagalli — caught scoring passes.
Hornibrook said he knew every BYU tendency and they came to life on virtually every pass play.
"I knew that this read was going to be here because I watched it 200 times already and I could completely trust it and play on the field," he said. "I think that was the biggest key on the field. That's what gave me the confidence.
"Obviously, I'm going to try and do that every week."
In his typically understated way, UW coach Paul Chryst confirmed that the additional video session helped Hornibrook play as well as he did against the Cougars.
"I know Alex watched quite a bit of film then," he said about the delay. "It was good."
The episode goes right to the heart of why Chryst and his coaching staff — especially offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph, defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and special teams coordinator Chris Haering — spend so much of their waking time scouring video clips of practices, games and what-not.
"We're all looking for our competitive edge," Chryst said. "We're all looking for validation because that gives you confidence. The answers are always on the tape."
That unending quest helps explain why all UW players have iPads and why the work of Schaefer, his full-time assistant Colin Ludema and eight to 10 student interns is so vital and valued.
During a normal week, Shaefer will get to the office around 5:30 a.m. and typically stay until all the coaches have gone home. He oversees a daily process that shoots and assembles images from each practice and has them all available for viewing shortly after the on-field session is over.
"We'll shoot onto (memory) cards and then drop (images) five times during practice, so at different points I'll start importing practice (footage) onto the system," Schaefer said. "Once I get it cleaned up then I'll push that to the cloud and getting that converted so guys can watch on the iPad.
"They can watch stuff immediately, so there'll be film available as soon as they get off the field. Everything will be done within 10 minutes if everything goes smoothly."
When the Badgers travel, the goal for Schaefer and Co. is to have all the pertinent images from the just-played game available for viewing before the team buses pull away from the stadium.
"So it's about an hour window; typically within 45 minutes we have it ready to go on guys' iPads for those who want it," said Schaefer, adding that 15 to 20 players on the bus will request the info and typically share their iPads with their teammates.
Ask Schaefer if his work is properly appreciated and the friendly man with a prominent handlebar mustache laughs.
"I think it's gotten to the point where it's expected, which is good," he said. "They don't know any better. The expectations that we've set up are that it's there."
Schaefer said his timeframes for having video ready for coaches and players is the industry standard.
"I think we do a pretty good job of meeting and trying to go beyond what they're looking for," he said.
When it comes to attention, Schaefer compares the video staff to the UW offensive line.
"We shouldn't be talked about," he said. "We shouldn't be noticed, because if we're noticed then something's not the way it was meant to be. I'm good with not getting any acclaim."
Chryst smiled when asked how it used to be.
He played quarterback — as well as tight end and linebacker — for the Badgers from 1984 to '88, so he remembers a plodding, clumsy system.
The first time Saturday's game film could be seen by the players was on Sunday.
Game footage was stored on reels that had to be shuttled back and forth between offices and projectors.
"You could make cut-ups of the film, but they weren't duplicated," Chryst said.
Fast forward to a time when every meeting room in the UW football complex can access any video.
UW junior inside linebacker T.J. Edwards gave a snapshot of their benefits.
"Every Monday we come in here and we have all the formations broken down of what percentage they run this (package), when they run (or) pass, things like that," he said of his position group. "Just knowing that right off the bat helps.
"Knowing formations and knowing personnel — who's their downhill back and who's their shifty back — we have all that laid out for us and that helps immensely."
Edwards said he also watches video on his own.
"Just seeing as many clips as you can — the many different looks they can give you — is something that really helps."
Chryst, who began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at West Virginia in 1989, said current technologies make it easier to teach the game.
"As a coach you can be so much more efficient," he said. "If you run 75 plays (in a game), you may have 12 good coaching points, so you can put those on one (segment) and watch it. Before you had to sort through (the film)."
Chryst, who works directly with the UW quarterbacks, said he spends as much time teaching in the video room as he does the field.
"The meeting room is a great time to peel back all the layers," he said, noting each cause has an effect. "Then you have to make it as simple as possible so you can go out and play and not overthink it.
"It's not about volume. We're trying to teach them what to look for as much as just spending time (watching) the tape. That's where good coaching helps. 'This is what you're looking for. This is how you want to watch.'"
Hornibrook, who leads the Big Ten Conference in passing efficiency after four games, was asked about that what-to-look-for process.
"It's definitely changed since I've gotten here," he said. "Some people start off watching where the ball is because it's kind of fun to watch that. But then they realize they don't need to do that, so they can watch the defense, they can watch themselves, they watch their steps."
Chryst said he doesn't keep tabs on his quarterbacks when it comes to watching video.
"I've never wanted to turn it into a contest," he said. "Because they'll spend the time."
Especially Hornibrook.
"Alex watches a ton," Chryst said.
Hornibrook, who's thrown for 200-plus yards in three of four starts this season, was asked if anyone on the team rivals his viewing habits.
"The competitive side of me would say no, but I'm not really sure," he said.
Hornibrook mentioned sophomore inside linebacker Chris Orr and junior nose tackle Olive Sagapolu.
Schaefer confirmed Sagapolu is a video hound.
"Olive keeps me on my toes," Schaefer said. "He'll catch anything that we may have missed or pushed out right away."
Schaefer also mentioned the offensive linemen, who typically take their meals from the dining area to go and watch video together in their meeting room.
"Part of their routine," Schaefer said.
Chryst said there's nothing unique about the video-watching culture at Wisconsin compared to other schools. Hornibrook concurred.
"Everybody is just concerned with self-improvement, making themselves better," he said. "You have to find enjoyment from watching yourself on film.
"I think everyone genuinely likes watching themselves on tape just to see what they're doing and how they can improve."
A routine that comes to life even in times of inconvenience.
