Southeast Missouri State football's new video coordinator moves at fast-forward pace

Throughout the Southeast Missouri State football practice on Wednesday, Jared Diekmann jogged between the two practice fields at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex and occasionally into the football offices next to the field.

Diekmann, the team's video coordinator, is in near constant motion during every practice.

Whether he's shouting directions to cameramen high above the fields on a lift, collecting SD cards or downloading videos onto a computer multiple times throughout practice, Diekmann keeps moving to ensure that he can produce film for the Redhawks' coaching staff as efficiently as possible.

"I've learned kind of don't sit still," Diekmann said. "... When you sit down and kind of take that break, that's when something else comes up. So I've kind of learned just to make sure that if everything's running smooth, there's probably something that's not running smooth. Just make sure that I'm kind of staying on top of that.

"Then as the days go by it's kind of calming down a little bit. There was a little bit of anxiety before that first day, just making sure everything was coordinated. You know, we had first-time filmers and all that kind of stuff, just trying to make sure everything went off without a hitch. But we're all kind of learning together and making sure that we're fulfilling our role."

Diekmann coached football for the last five years, including the last two as an assistant at Division III Elmhurst College while also handling video duties.

Southeast first-year coach Tom Matukewicz recalled a conversation with Diekmann on Aug. 1, prior to the Redhawks' first practice of fall camp.

"So the first day I called him out and said, 'So when am I going to be able to watch practice?' and he said '15 minutes,'" Matukewicz said. "OK, in the spring it took me two and a half hours to watch it. I said, 'Buddy, if it's at 15 minutes, you've got a raise.'"

Sure enough, when Matukewicz turned his computer on at 12:15 p.m. following his team's two-hour practice the video was ready to be played and he, "went in [and] gave him a raise right then."

Student workers and coaches have been responsible for collecting and editing film over the past several seasons.

An outline of Jared Diekmann's plan for Wednesday's football practice at Rosengarten Athletic Complex. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"I'm thankful for our administration [for allowing us to hire a video coordinator] because in the spring we had nothing like this, so I had to go at six in the morning and watch the film because I couldn't do it at night -- it was a waste of time," Matukewicz said. "Now we can turn the film over, and it's just that much more efficient."

Diekmann, who called himself "a coach at heart," will stop to watch practice from time to time but mostly sticks to a schedule.

He writes out a detailed plan for each practice for himself and the three cameramen that includes times when SD cards, which are tossed in Ziploc bags to Diekmann on the ground by the cameramen, will be deposited to him so that he can start downloading them on multiple computers inside. He'll also grab a camera and film if a view from the ground is necessary.

"Film is like the financial statements of our program," Matukewicz said. "Like, it's the details that tells you where you're at as a football team. So at the end of the day, as long as we've got film of it we can always evaluate it, correct it and learn from it, and so it's a really critical part of our football program. And not even just that, but promoting our program as far as Vine, YouTube, all this stuff of trying to get stuff in recruits hands and donors and season ticket holders -- just trying to tell our story a little bit."

In addition to practice and promotional filming, Diekmann will be responsible for game film as well as exchanging film with coordinators at other schools to scout other teams.

Diekmann's favorite part of the job is that he has the opportunity to interact with the players and coaches.

Jared Diekmann reviews and edits video footage from Wednesday's football practice at Rosengarten Athletic Complex. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"To me, it's being part of the team and having those relationships, and sitting in on the meetings and just getting to know people," Diekmann said. "I was extremely impressed when I first got here, just talking to a couple of the players. I mean, I think two of the first three people I talked to wanted to be a family counselor and a social worker, and that, to me, is just impressive. You know, you have these guys that people see [as] football players and whatever stereotypes are associated with that, and to have guys that they feel their calling in life is to help other people, it's not about them. To me that's impressive. And I like to get to know people and kind of get to know their stories and all that kind of stuff. So, so far for me that's the best part. The other part is obviously it's work and it's a job and all that, but that's the fun part. When the work is done, being able to sit down with guys and getting to know them and getting to know the coaches and their families and all that kind of stuff."

"At the end of the day I can respect anybody that tries really hard at their job," Matukewicz said. "Whatever it is you're doing, if you're giving your all I really respect that. And I think he takes pride in his work, and he realizes that he has just as much to do with winning and losing as the head coach."