When the Alabama High School Athletic Association announced last week that instant replay would be coming to football on an optional basis, some coaches jumped all over the opportunity while others took a more cautious view.

Put Athens High School coach Cody Gross in the latter category.

“We don’t plan to use it,” Gross said. “I have a lot of questions that I haven’t heard any answers to. What kind of camera angle is it going to be? Who will be doing the filming and how good is the film? In college and the NFL, you’ve got good camera angles and film, but I don’t know if you can reverse a call off any of the (high school) film. I just don’t know a whole lot about it, and I’m kind of old school anyway.”

East Limestone head coach Jeff Pugh, on the other hand, is excited for the new technology and thinks it will be very beneficial.

“Every little bit helps, especially if it’s a call that has an effect on the result of the game,” Pugh said. “If it’s something like that, you definitely need every option you could get. It’s not cheap (to purchase the system) but it will be utilized by a bunch of other schools, and if they’re going to use it, we need to be able to do it here in case it has the effect on the outcome of a game.”

The AHSAA received permission from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to provide instant replay in the regular season and postseason as an experiment beginning in the 2018 football season. The experimental period can be for up to three years. Current NFHS football rules prohibit the use of instant replay. Minnesota and New Jersey have also been granted permission for use during championship games.

The AHSAA has partnered with instant replay technology leader DVSport to provide Instant Replay Solution for its member schools. Participation by member schools is optional. Coaches will have the opportunity to challenge two calls during the game, should they so choose, which would lead to a video review.

Pugh said the school will have to purchase a camera for the referee to view video replays on the sideline in the event of a challenge.

“They have that one camera, and schools can purchase additional cameras for different angles if they choose. We’re just purchasing the one. (The camera angle) will be from the sideline from our video person, but they will be able to zoom in and slow it down frame by frame.”

Gross said he doesn’t believe a single camera angle would be enough to overturn a vast majority of calls by the officials.

“I can see having it in the Super 7 (state championship games), where they have a top-notch video crew ready to do that, but I just don’t know about the regular-season games at schools with just one camera,” Gross said. “There will be a lot of schools that use it this year, and there will be cases where it might come into play. Ultimately, if it gets the call right it’s a good thing, but I want to see how it plays out before we go into purchasing it.”

Pugh said he believes the video review could make a big difference and he is looking forward to seeing the review program in action.

“When it is a call that’s made in a critical portion of the game, it makes a difference,” Pugh said. “I know it’s a trial thing they’re going through, and it’s something we’re going to take advantage of at East Limestone.”