How One AD Reclaimed His Time by Simplifying Coaching, Competition and Connection
Brett Martin finds what every athletic director values most with Hudl — more time.
Focus Cameras = Happy Coaches
Happy coaches make an athletic director’s job easier. Valwood moved to Hudl from another provider, seeing it as a better solution across the program. Their coaches agreed. “This has been one of the only technological platforms I have not had to beg them to do,” said Martin.
It starts with their Hudl Focus cameras, now a staple across campus in both indoor and outdoor facilities. The cameras automatically record games from the team’s Hudl schedules, which Martin can update from his phone. It’s a long way from VHS tapes and multi-hour journeys.
As Valwood continues expanding its Hudl capabilities, the number of sports and angles captured grows. Baseball and softball are next in line, which coaches will use to film practices, scrimmages and games.
Valwood even participated in the beta program for the Focus End Zone camera, providing feedback to help get the camera game-ready. “My football coach told me that it gets better every week,” Martin said.
The one thing I’ve realized is you cannot do a great job as an AD if you’re trying to do too many things. [Hudl] has given everybody that valuable commodity that you can’t purchase, which is time.
Their next fundraising avenue is adding sponsors to their livestream. Martin is confident in the product they’re delivering to fans and eager to grow it from both a reach and revenue perspective. “As we get more established and people start realizing what we’re doing, we’ll be able to sell those ads.”
“We’ve started to be all-encompassing with Hudl,” said Martin, which now extends to the in-person facility experience with their recent addition of Hudl Tickets. “People can walk up to our gates now, and if they haven’t already gotten their ticket, they can scan the sign and buy one right there on their phone,” he continued.
“We don’t have to have a card reader. It’s all taken care of."
Hudl highlights preserve every athlete's best moments, something that resonates just as deeply with their families. “My mother, when my son was playing, she had a Hudl account and she would go back and watch his games,” said Martin. “He graduated in ‘18. She still would go into her [account] and watch his games.”
Von Scherrer shared a similar story. “Once a year my wife will say, ‘Hey, can you put on [our son’s] highlight that we made?’” he said.
See how Hudl Fan makes athlete highlights more accessible than ever.
Serving Needs, Old and New
Martin has seen plenty of change over three decades in education and athletics.
“As the years have gone by, the need for communication has grown tremendously,” he said. “The need for people to be involved has grown tremendously.”
What hasn’t changed is the nature of the job: to support his coaches, athletes and the broader community. With Hudl, he’s found something that helps him do it all. Coaches can focus fully on coaching, athletes can pursue future opportunities or maximize the ones in front of them and fans have an unparalleled level of access and involvement.
For Martin, the biggest benefit is simply the ease of running his program at a high level. “It makes you as an AD look better,” he said. “Because you're providing the things that [people] want.”