Dan HuntHead Football CoachColgate UniversityWhy did you decide to implement Teamworks?I was interested in finding software to keep track of our team and increase efficiency. I had a conversation with Tim Pendergast, who I knew from his coaching days, and when he showed me the program, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. There are so many people to manage within our team, from alumni, to current players, to the support staff and beyond. At a bigger school, sometimes a person’s only job is to monitor your team. At the FCS level, for a program at a school like ours, you simply just don’t have a huge support staff like that.Teamworks came along and it was able to link all these different people that work with our team, from academics to trainers to secretaries to travel coordinators. When I did a free trial, I was able to see how many of our problems were solved by using this program. It made everyone’s life easier and let him or her be more effective. After using it for one season, I knew it was something that we wanted to keep and develop a relationship with and hang on to – it’s absolutely great.What are some examples of how you use Teamworks in your day-to-day operations?First off, the Calendar feature is a huge part of our daily operations. Having the players’ schedules on hand so I know who’s available and when is great. Frequently at our school, something will come up that will force us to have to change practice time. Teamworks gives us the option to number one, check everyone’s schedules and availability to implement this changed practice time and number two, to be able to get our players this changed information.The Messaging feature is also a big part of our day-to-day functioning. Being able to communicate with different custom groups (by year, by position group, etc.) is a definite plus. Even our coaches who are a little bit slow to adapt to technology are using the messaging function to get in touch with our players every day.We also use the Files feature to get documents and information to our players in a paperless fashion, which is amazing. Our kids want everything in a digital format and Teamworks helps us adapt to that. Also we use the Profile and Metrics features to view and compare our players’ goals and metrics. Overall, there’s not a day that goes by that we’re not using Teamworks for some aspect of our program.How have you seen communication change in college athletics?The biggest change I’ve seen is how quickly a form of communication becomes obsolete. Emails are simply an outdated way to communicate with kids these days. Our kids want information to be instant, quick, and paperless. You’ve got to stay on top of that. This constantly changing demand has definitely influenced how we approach communication with our players. We have to change and grow with our student-athletes’ preferences or else we aren’t going to be able to get them the information they need to know.Do you find these changes to be generally good or bad?Generally, I think they’re good. These changes force coaches to stay up to date with current forms of communication, which is certainly something I want for my staff and me, and allows us to be more efficient. I don’t want to be known as the guys who “don’t get it.” Adapting makes us a better staff and allows us to stay on track and make sure our kids are getting the necessary information.How do you see the world of football operations continuing to change over the next few years?I think it will continue to change as technology grows and as the nature of the kids grow. In terms of operations and the way you handle your team, you have to make sure to number one, change with technology and number two, adapt to what’s effective for the kids. We have to be ready for any new type of communication that comes our way. Again, what I think it does, is increase everyone’s overall organization and efficiency. While it is our responsibility to stay on top of it, I do think that it makes everything run smoother.How has your staff responded to using Teamworks?Our assistant who handles travel thanks us every day for Teamworks, as it’s really made that aspect of our team more efficient. Even our trainer, who’s not the biggest computer guy, is on board. Anyone who has a hand in our program uses Teamworks and it definitely has had a direct, positive effect on the way we operate.What would you say to other FCS teams that are evaluating or haven’t heard of Teamworks?At the FCS level, you really don’t have player personnel, or a whole football operations department. Teamworks is our Director of Football Operations. Since we don’t have the huge staff like they do at a higher level, Teamworks lets you be as effective without monopolizing the time and the people that you have to use it. It’s user-friendly enough that it will get your operations projects done without tying up all of your assistant coach’s time. To me, that’s where it proves invaluable. I’m not lying when I say it’s a great program. When I first looked at it, I wasn’t dying to buy something. Once we used it though, it was something we knew we couldn’t do without.