For the fifth consecutive year, Lone Star Conference Commissioner Jay Poerner kicked off the conference’s Media Day festivities inside McKinney ISD Stadium with a statement on the strength of the conference. Poerner, beginning his tenth season as LSC Commissioner, spoke about the conference's stability with the addition of Sul Ross State this season and UT Dallas next year.

“The addition of the University of Texas at Dallas, recently accepted into the Division II membership process, will make the LSC 18 members deep next year, making the LSC the largest and most formidable conference in the country at any level,” Poerner said. “As a conference, we celebrated 13 regional championships. We had five teams finish as a national semifinalist. We won 12 individual national championships in four different sports, and we capped off the year celebrating our 81st team national championship with UT Tyler winning the 2024 NCAA Division II softball national championship.”

However, Poerner's following statement showcased how the Lone Star Conference remains on the cutting edge in Division II. 

“Last year, we were one of the first NCAA Division II conferences to utilize instant replay in the sport of football. The Sky Coach on-field instant replay system allowed our LSC referees to review targeting penalties immediately and allowed our coaches to review specific plays from games,” Poerner said. “This year, I’m excited to announce that we’re taking that one step further and collaborating with Sky Coach for the use of tablets on the sidelines and in the coaching booths.”

Last April, the NCAA approved teams in all three divisions to use tablets to view in-game video only. The video could include the broadcast feed and camera angles from the coach’s sideline and end zone. 

Every coach I spoke with at the Media Day spoke of how viewing replays on tablets during the game will allow for quicker adjustments.

“I have our coaches working on (using the tablets) now and testing it out,” Sul Ross head coach Barry Derickson said. “That way, when we get to fall camp, we can incorporate sideline technology into our practice. This allows us to make immediate adjustments after a series is over, so it’s definitely a game changer.”

West Texas A&M head coach Josh Lynn said his staff is discussing how to deploy the tablets during the game effectively.

“We’ve discussed having one (tablet) in the box for offense and one for defense and having the other four on the sideline. The quarterback and quarterback coach needs one, and so does the secondary coach,” Lynn said. “It’s huge on our level. It’s something that’s never been done before here, and I think it will help us see stuff on the sidelines that we couldn’t see until watching the film.”

“When a big play hits, the first thing we want to know as coaches is why the big play happened,” Midwestern State head coach Rich Renner said. “We’ll be able to see if someone wasn’t in their gap or where we broke down on a quarterback scramble, then make the changes to correct it.”

Angelo State head coach Jeff Girsch admits he isn’t a technology savant, but that won’t stop the Rams from benefiting from the new technology.

“I leave that to the younger coaches. We’ve met on it a few times, and we’ll have a test run during Fall camp to see how it works and get the kinks worked out,” Girsch said. “I think more changes are coming within the game. I think we’ll have headsets with some players on the field in a year or two.”

Some coaches said they would prefer helmet communication before the sideline technology. However, the NCAA only approved headset communication for Division I this season and will look at expanding to include DII and DIII during the following offseason.

As with all progress, coaches must consider a few negatives. For example, the NCAA said teams are allotted 18 active tablets for use in the coaching booth, sideline, and locker room. Most coaches expressed concern about the cost of implementing the system, which entails purchasing the Sky Coach technology for approximately $1,700, and the cost of buying the tablets, which can add up to over $10,000 if purchasing the allotted amount.

To help with the cost, Poerner said the LSC is limiting its institutions to a maximum of six tablets during the contest.

“This kind of got sprung on us late in the spring, and we’ve been working through it all summer,” Poerner said. “It’s probably going to be a bit of a mixed bag the first year. We’re only allowing six (tablets) this year to help keep it fair across the conference. Fortunately, our schools are committed to making replay and sideline technology happen.”

Another concern expressed by multiple coaches in attendance is whether the sideline replay system will be allowed during the NCAA DII playoffs, with the decision currently in the hands of each conference to implement.

“That was a hot topic at the NCAA Division II football committee meeting. My guess is that it’s probably not going to be permissible,” Poerner said. “Not everyone is using this technology or going to use it the same way we do. We’re limiting our schools to six (tablets), but you can technically have 18, so our schools could be at a disadvantage if other schools maximize their allotment. I don’t think we’ll be able to use it in the playoffs this year, but hopefully we can advance that in the future.”

Other coaches expressed concerns about what would happen if one sideline lost the replay system during the game, considering some stadiums have more reliable Wi-Fi than others.

“This system isn’t dependent on the institution's Wi-Fi. It’s basically an independent system that Sky Coach is sending the schools and will work on its own network,” Poerner explained. “A lot of testing will happen in the preseason and before every game. If the system goes out for one team, it goes out for everybody, including the officials, because they’re all on the same network. There’s stuff that can go wrong with technology, but we’ll do everything we can to ensure our replay system doesn’t go out.”