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The Departmental Revolution: How College Programs Use Automation as a Force Multiplier

Mar 20, 2026

5 min Read

Automated processes with Hudl allow the small athletic department at Monroe University-Bronx to punch above their weight.

For the modern JUCO athletics staffer, the job description often feels like a math problem that doesn't add up. When you’re a two-person staff tasked with a ten-person workload, managing a department often feels more like simply surviving it.

In the NJCAA, survival mode is characterized by game-day anxiety: the frantic search for student workers to man cameras, the manual tracking of stats during live action, and the constant fear that one overlapping event or personal emergency will cause the whole operation to crumble.

But a shift is happening. Programs like New York’s Monroe University-Bronx are moving from survival mode to automation mode, proving that high-end technology isn’t a luxury reserved for the big schools. It’s a necessity for the resilient ones.

Beyond the "Small Staff" Crisis

The reality of the JUCO world is that staff members often have blurred job descriptions. You might be the AD in the morning, the SID in the afternoon and the bus driver by night. AJ O’Hagan, Sports Information Director at Monroe-Bronx, knows this balancing act all too well.

“In a situation where you have two different events going on at the same time, you might [typically] need six people. Instead, [with Hudl] you might need just one person total for both events combined,” he said. “So, it's been a huge lifesaver for us, and it's made my job a heck of a lot easier.”

By utilizing AI camera systems like Hudl Focus, departments can cover overlapping schedules without stretching their human capital to the breaking point.

“We might have a men's soccer playoff match going on at the same time as a home women's volleyball match. I could take the Hudl Flex camera that's mobile that we have for soccer, use that to stream our game, and maybe have one person run the scoreboard, and then back at the volleyball gym for the playoff match,” said O’Hagan.

Operational Resilience: The "Set It and Forget It" Workflow

True efficiency isn't just about saving hours, it’s about peace of mind. When your workflow is automated, the department remains functional even when life happens. Monroe Athletic Director David Spiegel learned this firsthand during a critical time.

“I had a family emergency and we had just installed the Hudl Focus camera. While we were using it for film, we had been a little hesitant to use it for streaming right away,” he said. “ I remember just thinking, ‘I'm just going to go on the app. I'm going to go schedule all the streams for today and just start them up 15 minutes earlier than when they're supposed to go.’”

With college athletic department software that runs on automation, ADs can schedule an entire season’s worth of film and streams in minutes, ensuring the department runs on autopilot whether the leadership is on-site or 100 miles away.

Competitive Equality & Regional Standards

Automation doesn't just benefit the home office, it levels the playing field for the entire conference. When a region adopts Hudl Focus AI cameras, it helps level the inherent advantage of schools with larger budgets or more manual labor. Film exchange is guaranteed, stats are unbiased and no one has an "unfair" advantage.

Coaches become the primary beneficiaries. Instead of worrying about whether a student-worker captured the right angle, they can focus on what they were hired to do—coach.

“Knowing that the stats are going to be taken care of automatically and to have that all in the region, that will be a big help,” said O’Hagan. “Everyone will have the same game film. They would have to share their game films with their opponents and everything. It would be more on an equal playing field.”

The Hidden ROI: From Budget Item to Investment

The most common hurdle for small colleges is the upfront cost. However, the hidden cost of staying manual—paying student workers, losing recruits due to poor film, and managing fragmented invoices—often far exceeds the price of automation.

Spiegel views the transition not as an expense, but as a recruiting engine.

“The cost of not necessarily needing as many student workers is a nice saving. But I think just the investment in helping your athletes get to the next level by having film available to send out, [that] is invaluable,” he said. “The price we pay for it is almost negligent when it comes to how we're helping student-athletes move on to their next schools.”

By consolidating video, streaming, and analytics into a single annual payment through an athletic department package, programs can simplify their business office operations while offering a professional-grade experience that attracts the next generation of talent.

“Being able to send in that PO and say, ‘Here's our yearly payment to Hudl,’ all in one shot, it's all one and done, " said Spiegel. “We seem to just be reaping the benefits because we're locked into a certain price and getting more bang for our buck over the years.”

Joining the Revolution

The small staff era of JUCO athletics doesn't have to mean small scale.

By embracing automation as a force multiplier, athletic departments can protect their staff from burnout, provide coaches with elite tools, and ensure every student-athlete has the film they need to reach the next level.

Ready to transition your department from survival mode to automation?

See the full breakdown of Hudl’s collegiate solutions.