The Patriots, and the NFL as a whole, are taking a large leap in to the future in the 2014 season. As part of their partnership with Microsoft, coaches around the league will at least be given the option of using Surface, Microsoft's tablet. As fans who have actually been watching preseason undoubtedly noticed, Bill Belichick has been toting the tablet in all three games, though the results have been mixed.
Using the Surface, Microsoft's answer to the iPad in case you didn't already know, coaches can cut out the thousands of pages used to examine in-game photos and updates from their offensive staff. Previously, these were tossed into bulky binders and distributed as fast as they could be assembled. With tablets, coaches can instantly have pictures and notes loaded.
There are rules, and restrictions, so that the playing field remains level, and there is no tampering. The NFL owns and operates all tablets, keeping them locked away before and after games (as seen in this picture). Everything runs on a closed wireless network, and doesn't allow access to the internet. So no, if the Jets are getting blown out, just know that Rex Ryan is not drowning his sorrows in a Netflix binge, because that's impossible (sorry Jets fans, I swear you got picked for the example randomly).
Problems have inevitably cropped up, mostly to do with the wifi connection. Still, Belichick seems optimistic about it:
So until you put it all together, there are still some moving parts. There’s always a chance that they won’t be available or that the functionally will be, at some point, not optimal, so you have to have some kind of an alternate plan. It’s no different than when the coach to quarterback headset goes off or whatever. I’d say it’s similar to that. As long as it works, it’s fine. When it doesn’t work, you have to have an alternative and you have to be ready for it. But the quality of the pictures and the potential for it is good. At times it’s functioned well and at other times it needs some fine-tuning, so we’ll just see how it goes along.
Bonus: The NFL is getting a tablet developed back when this guy was CEO of Microsoft. He's now the owner of the Clippers. Everyone's thrilled that he's so connected to the sports world, for obvious reasons.
Screenshot via MMQB
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