California’s Mayfair football relies on SkyCoach for ‘most reliable’ sideline replay, just like the CFL
Mayfair head coach Derek Bedell has been a longtime customer and supporter of SkyCoach sideline replay for his Monsoons, the 2023 CIF - SS Division 7 champions.
Bedell signed up with SkyCoach shortly after a recommendation from powerhouse St. John Bosco, along with a glowing review from a coach in the Canadian Football League.
“It’s one of the most consistent products we’ve ever had. I’ve not been shy about that on social media.”
“We were trying to do it with just iPads and it was a giant pain in the rear end, honestly. We searched all over the place,” Bedell said. “We knew Bosco was running SkyCoach and knew some coaches who had Hudl Sideline. I kind of just interviewed them but the kicker was my friend, Mike Scheper, who’s a coach in the CFL. He told me that SkyCoach is the greatest thing he’s ever seen. They’ve been using it for eight years and haven’t had one issue. The product itself was so easy to use. To have someone at that level of football say those things and told us to buy it, that’s what we did.”
SkyCoach has been the exclusive in-game sideline replay provider for the CFL’s nine teams since 2016 and has since been used in every preseason, regular season and postseason games, including Grey Cups. The largest confirmed crowd SkyCoach has effortlessly worked in was Grey Cup 106 in Edmonton with a crowd of nearly 56,000 people.
The Monsoons have continued to grow each year using SkyCoach. During their impressive 2023 season, Bedell had his sideline process extremely streamlined with a total of 12 iPads (10 on sideline, 2 in press box for coaches) being used. Mayfair has our Gold package.
“It’s one of the most consistent products we’ve ever had. I’ve not been shy about that on social media. The product is leaps and bounds above other products and that’s coming from guys on my staff that have used other products. We only know one product: SkyCoach,” he said.
“We get calls from all the other companies and I always tell them: ‘There’s no reason to even call me. You’re wasting your time.’ SkyCoach is super consistent, easy to operate and the updates in the last couple of years where I don’t have to use a computer because of the Remote Camera Kit was absolutely a game changer. It is a 10-minute setup. It’s two little briefcases and an extension cord that we supply. I have some kids that set it up and bang bang, it’s done. If there’s ever been a mistake, it’s on our end. From the very start, it’s been a game changer for us.”
Like many other schools, Mayfair uses Hudl for their postgame video exchange and highlights. But Bedell only puts trust in SkyCoach to work during in-game situations for reliable instant replay.
He said: “For me it comes down to is the product reliable? When you’re dealing with immediate video situations it’s all about reliability. Ultimately, all I need is to get the video to iPads for the coaches and players to watch it in-game and SkyCoach provides that. To me, the product is really, really good.”
The Monsoons are constantly watching the replay on how teams are attacking them offensively, defensively and even on special teams. Bedell said it’s been especially beneficial for his quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs over the years. Part of his streamlined in-game process has been having players trained to meet their coach at the bench with an iPad as soon as they step off the field.
When asked for a specific example from last season when SkyCoach made a difference in the game, Bedell said: “During the first round of the playoffs, we were down near the goal line in overtime and we went back and looked at the previous four goal line plays we had run. We saw that defensively the other team was lining up the same way every time inside the 5-yard line. We called two straight plays: the touchdown that tied the game and the 2-point conversion to win it. Without SkyCoach, we would have been guessing. We have the tools, so let’s not guess. My offensive coordinator is in the box watching the previous plays getting ready for the 2-point conversion so he knows exactly what his call will be to not use the timeout.”
As far as what Bedell wants other coaches to know about SkyCoach, it is the fact that the CFL continues to use SkyCoach because of our reliability, the same reason his team uses our product.
“I think one thing you should talk about is the partnership with the CFL. If this product is so reliable that the CFL has been using it for years and not one issue. For the price, this product cannot be beat. If the product was bad, the CFL would have changed years ago. That’s a huge selling point. It’s the most reliable product out there.”
