For Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California, the decision to switch sideline replay systems didn’t come during the offseason. It came with two games remaining in the 2025 season.

Edison had run Hudl Sideline for years. But as the Chargers’ schedule pushed them into bigger venues, the system increasingly ran into reliability problems — wireless interference in large stadiums chief among them. For equipment assistant coach Steve Dempsen, the breaking point came after replay failed in some of the biggest games on Edison’s schedule.

“We had Hudl Sideline for years,” Dempsen said. “As the interference grew in the locations we played — college stadiums, an NFL stadium, just more technology interference — our Hudl Sideline stopped working.”

The frustrating part was that everything could look fine at setup.

“We would set up pre-game, but once fans packed the stadium, the interference grew,” Dempsen said. “Imagine your state championship game not having replay — that happened to us.”

That championship game was a historic one for Edison. On December 14, 2024, the Chargers beat Fresno Central 21-14 to capture the program’s first CIF Division 1-A state football title.

WHEN AN UPGRADE WASN’T ENOUGH

Heading into the following season, Edison hoped an updated component would solve the problem. When the Chargers returned to larger venues, so did the failures.

“The next year we thought we ‘improved’ with an updated component sent to us, but in the first college stadium that year it failed at halftime,” Dempsen said. “Next, in SoFi Stadium it never worked, even with Hudl support dialed in. That was the night we had to switch.”

With two games left, Edison didn’t have the luxury of waiting for the offseason. The Chargers needed a system that could be shipped, learned and trusted almost immediately.

WHY EDISON CHOSE SKYCOACH

Before making the switch, Edison looked at what other successful programs in the area were running.

“We chose SkyCoach after looking at what other peer programs and a local college was using,” Dempsen said. “We saw that SkyCoach logo at one peer game, saw how easy the sideline crew was setting it up, and made the decision to confirm it there.”

Looking deeper into how SkyCoach worked sealed it.

“Any iPad can be used, no computer needed, brain is the press box — not the end zone — for faster setup, video is swiftly distributed after recording, the strong signal reaches everywhere,” Dempsen said.

Once Edison made the call, SkyCoach moved fast.

“The SkyCoach team shipped it out fast enough for us to learn it and have it up and running in a week for the very next game,” he said.

FROM SCRAMBLING AT KICKOFF TO READY 45 MINUTES EARLY

The difference wasn’t limited to whether replay worked. Game-day setup got dramatically easier.

“We are up and running 45 minutes before kickoff — we used to be scrambling still after kickoff,” Dempsen said. “That means it is at least an hour faster for setup.”

On one game day, Dempsen said it took 20 minutes from unloading the trailer to having the press box system running.

That simplicity also gives Edison’s staff more flexibility. Coaches and staff aren’t tied to a single device or a single spot on the field to contribute to the replay workflow.

“Anyone on the staff can record from where they are, update info, see the game,” Dempsen said. “I use my iPhone when on the field during warmup to record the test plays.”

Edison’s football program shared a look at the system in action on its own social media.

BUILT FOR ROAD GAMES — EVEN WHEN THE WEATHER DOESN’T COOPERATE

Edison has also put SkyCoach through conditions well beyond a typical Friday night.

“It worked in the hardest rain we’ve played in many years,” Dempsen said, noting the team simply protected an antenna with a plastic bag. “It worked in a tropical storm in Hawaii.”

The Hawaii trip presented another challenge: Edison could only bring its sideline equipment and had to leave the normal end zone setup behind.

“Also props to SkyCoach,” Dempsen said after the trip. “We had a travel game to Hawaii already and were only able to bring sideline equipment — no end zone. SkyCoach was still able to run perfectly, even in Tropical Storm weather, without end zone.”

For a program that travels and plays in everything from high school venues to college and NFL stadiums, that flexibility matters.

THE SETUP AND PERFORMANCE IS THE PLAYER OF THE GAME

Edison made the switch at a point in the season with virtually no room for a learning curve. Two games remained, and the Chargers needed a replay system they could stand up quickly and depend on immediately.

What began as an in-season necessity turned into a lasting improvement to Edison’s entire game-day replay workflow.

For Dempsen, the biggest difference comes down to something simpler than a spec sheet.

“The feature set speaks for itself,” he said. “The setup and performance is the player of the game.”

For programs still spending Friday nights troubleshooting replay, Edison’s experience shows that making a change doesn’t have to wait until next season.