MAUMEE, Ohio — As the high school football season comes to a close, one thing that's caught our eye is the increased presence of drones. The machines are being utilized at practices and games to provide a unique perspective.
"We started three years ago prior to my first year here," Perrysburg head football coach Dirk Conner said. "That's when we bought one. It's the most important piece of equipment in our program."
In a sport where angles and viewpoints are important for success, the bird's-eye view has become an important preparation tool.
"When we found out that drones could film like that and have that good of quality, obviously that's an advantage we can use at practice," Maumee head coach Evan Karchner said. "In the old days, you'd get on a ladder or put a video camera on a broomstick."
Times have changed, so coaches and their teams are adapting to the new opportunities.
"We get to watch everything, everything at practice that a lot of people don't get to watch," Karchner said. "We tell guys you have nowhere to hide and that holds kids accountable and allows us to make corrections that some teams can't make on a day-to-day basis."
Maumee and Perrysburg may not share the Northern Lakes League anymore, but they do find common ground when it comes to this piece of technology.
"You get spoiled because it's the best view to watch football, especially from a coaching perspective," Conner said. "We watch and teach so much based off of film every day and every week."
The shot from above creates many opportunities for both students playing and pilots flying.
Within the Panther football program, a pair of pilots are tasked with capturing the important footage.
"I love being out here watching everything and supporting our school and football team," said Maumee sophomore Taylin Gilmore, one of the drone pilots. "It's pretty awesome to be recognized for doing something simple for the team."
The role lets people who might not be well-versed in football engage with the sport.
"Normally when you're in the student section, you don't really pay attention because a lot of things are going on," Gilmore said. "I didn't know anything about football, but now I feel like I know a lot of stuff."
It's a similar story over at Perrysburg, which utilizes a tandem system. Pilot Matthew Stewart is a former player whose career got cut short due to injury but still found a way to stay in the game.
"It is really cool because I didn't get to play, so this makes up for that," Stewart said. "You know it's fun and it's the best seat in the house."
With drones still relatively new to high school football, there are restrictions.
"You just can't use it during the playoffs. When you're at home, it's home rules so when we're at home we use it and when we're away we ask to use it," Karchner said. "We go off that, but with our drone, we can put it on our high-pod system in our endzone so it's adaptable to anything."
Despite not being able to fly full-time, the machines are gaining in popularity across northwest Ohio.
"When we had the drone, it was a really new thing to the point where they had rules against it. You couldn't fly over the field or anything like that," Stewart said. "But it's been evolving since then and I feel like teams are catching on. I've seen other teams get drones as the years have gone by and I think it'll become a big thing."
Both Maumee and Perrysburg told WTOL 11 that they expect more programs in the area to invest in drones given their impactful use.
"I hope nobody gets any crazy ideas and tries to ban them because it's one of the best things we have going," Conner said.