January/February 2025 - 52

W
ith only 25 players on the roster - one of the
smallest teams in Rhode Island - Narragansett
High School needs a competitive edge on the
field. That edge is speed.
Operating the Air Raid offense, Narragansett aims to
run an offensive play every 12 seconds in an attempt to
keep opposing teams on their heels. This allows the
offense to dictate the tempo and conditions their
defensive unit by having to practice against it regularly.
And with only 25 players on the varsity roster, many of
them playing both ways, this style also forces Nargansett
to be the most conditioned team on the field.
The strategy proved successful as Narragansett
appeared in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League's
(RIIL) Division 4 state championship in November.
To prepare their team for the rapid pace, the
Narragansett coach staff uses Porta Phone's coach-toplayer
communication technology to speak directly to
players responsible for play-calling during practice.
" We go fast all the time, " Frank Terminesi, assistant
coach at Narragansett and sales director at Porta Phone,
said. " So being able to communicate when we're trying to
go fast is very important. What products like The Clip do
is allow you to get more reps at practice. If you're getting
20 more reps every practice than your opponent, then
you're going to be more prepared than them. "
Aside from giving the quarterback that technology,
Terminesi can have devices for all of Narragansett's
positional group leaders on both sides of the ball. While
the QB makes the play call, the offensive line leader can
relay blocking assignment adjustments from their
positional coach - in real time. The defensive play-caller
can relay defensive alignments along the front seven
while the defensive backs coach can align the secondary
without having to huddle up.
But being timely with communication
extends to the
coaches as well. With only eight coaches on the staff -
some of whom are volunteer assistants - Narragansett
keeps an offensive spotter in the booth to be their eyes in
the sky. And with the coaches peppered along the
sidelines, it's imperative that they can effectively
communicate without being face-to-face.
Sometimes that instant communication results in
slowing down the speed of the game. During this season,
Terminesi called back to a situation where Narragansett
was facing a fourth-and-short at the tail end of the first
quarter. The clock was winding down and they were
hustling to get a play in.
" We were a bit out of sorts, trying to figure out what
we wanted to do, " Terminesi recalled. " Did we want to
run the ball or do a quick throw? "
From the far end of the sideline, Terminesi was able to
flip on his mic and ask his head coach about the
difference in time between the play clock and the game
clock. After speaking with the ref, they realized they could
just run the clock out and reset that fourth-down play at
the start of the second quarter - giving the coaches
more time to find the right play.
" We didn't burn a timeout and we got our guys
together to get our play in. And we ended up getting the
first down. So sometimes when you're when you're going
fast you have to slow it down a little bit, " Terminesi said.
UPPING THE GAME
Milton Powell and Travis Cantrell wanted to
revolutionize the coaching communication technology.
While being able to instantly communicate with your
players via a headset - whether it's attached to a
player's helmet or clipped to the chest protector - is
great, they were looking to change the game.
Meet Digiwrist, a closed-circuit device that
sends plays from a coach's tablet
straight to the
52 COACH & A.D. | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
January/February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2025
